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Crume, Thomas Clinton, 1886: 
Evangelism in action 








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MAY 22 1926 
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Evangelism in 
BY 


THOMAS CLINTON CRUME, M.A, ThM. PhD., Th.D., D.D. 


ue 


PENTECOSTAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY 


COPYRIGHT, 1925, 
BY 


THOMAS CLINTON CRUME. 


PRFID DDI DIO FFD ODEDPAAO SSIS OI IOS 


TO 
MY FATHER AND MOTHER, 
C. W. CRUME AND ANNA E. CRUME, 
TO WHOM I OWE A DEBT I CAN 
NEVER REPAY. 


FOREWORD. 


This book for the most part has been wrought 
out by the author on the anvil of experience through 
a period of fifteen years as student, pastor, and gen- 
eral evangelist. During these years the author has 
made a special study of evangelism and has given it 
the first place in his ministry. He has a deep con- 
viction that winning others to Christ is the first bus- 
iness of the preacher, the church, and every re- 
deemed soul. It was this conviction that caused him 
to lead his own church, during a pastorate of ten 
years, in twelve successful revivals, and during this 
same period he was called upon to hold scores of re- 
vivals in other churches. Success at home created a 
demand for his services elsewhere, and as a result 
more calls came to lend a helping hand than could 
possibly be accepted. During the past few years 
many persistent appeals have come from kind 
friends in the pastorate and from some important 
Christian schools to write a book covering the whole 
field of evangelism in a brief and practical way. 
This the writer has endeavored to do. He realizes 
full well his own inability for such a task and the 
many imperfections of this work, but sends it forth 
with the hope that it may add something of value to 
the knowledge and literature of one of the most fas- 
cinating themes in the world—evangelism. 

In view of the fact that certain schools have al- 
ready approved the manuscript, and want to use 
the book as a text book on evangelism, the material 
has been rearranged in points and short paragraphs 
to aid the student in memorizing the contents of the 
book. 


Just here, I wish to acknowledge my debt of 
gratitude to all who have preceded me in the field of 
evangelism. It has been my grand privilege and 
good pleasure to read all the best that has been 
written on the subject. Yet, I feel that this great 
theme has not been exhausted and I have simply en- 
deavored in this work to add my little contribution, 
with the hope that it may be of some small service in 
the bringing in of the Kingdom of God. 

I want to acknowledge my special indebtedness 
to Drs. L. R. Scarborough, William E. Biederwolf, 
W. W. Hamilton, and O. O. Green, for their great 
and inspiring books on evangelism. I feel that these 
brethren have made incalculable contributions to the 
cause of evangelism. 

I am also deeply indebted to Pres. E. Y. Mullins 
and the faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological 
Seminary, for teaching me the evangelistic message 
and inspiring me to go out from that holy place with 
a consuming passion to deliver that message to a lost 
world. I could not let this book go forth with a good 
conscience without making this statement. I thank 
God for every memory of this school of the prophets 
and for the men who taught me to love and win lost 
souls. How much I owe to these men I can never 
know this side of eternity. 

In doing a work of this sort, it is impossible to 
know just how much one owes to others, but wher- 
ever another has been consciously used, or quoted, 
proper credit has been given. So whatever we owe 
to others in spirit, inspiration, or direct quotation, 
we gratefully acknowledge. 

THOMAS CLINTON CRUME. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER PAGE 
1. The Meaning of Evangelism. ........... 7 
2. Evangelism in the Old Testament ........ i 
3. Evangelism in the New Testament........ 38 
4, Outstanding Evangelists of the Chris- 

Han Centuries 00 ua ie nin Kees 65 
5. The Doctrines of Evangelism ............ 90 
6. The Agencies in Evangelism ..... Hee 140 
7. Personal Evangelism .......... He opts 159 
8. Child Evangelism iti... 4. 4'\. Maas Oa 178 
9: Church) Mvangelism wun... MO ae dhe 184 

10. Co-Operative Evangelism . ............. 197 

Lt Maisiciin Hvangelisny fei is os eens 7 We 

12. Methods in Evangelism ..... Mes a Papers 


CHAPTER I. 
EVANGELISM. 


“And He gave some to be apostles; and some, 
prophets; and some evangelists; and some, pastors 
and teachers,” (Eph. 4:11-17). 

“Do the work of an evangelist,” (II Tim. 4:5). 


Evangelism is a great and meaningful word. It 
is worthy of our deepest thought.. We do well to 
pause and study its meaning and message. Evan- 
gelism is especially at the forefront in this age, as 
ours is the age of evangelism. Evangelism is indeed 
the watchword of the Christianity of our day. 

“Evangelism is, at this moment, the watchword 
of the churches. For the first time in many decades 
the watchword is worthy the followers of the Naz- 
arene. With a strange unanimity conservatives and 
critics alike have accepted the term, and with one 
voice are calling for evangelism.’—W. B. Riley, 
(The Perennial Revival). 


THE MEANING OF EVANGELISM. 


The Greek word, ‘‘uangelisto,” meaning evangel- 
ast, is used only three times in the New Testament. 
The Greek verb, “uangelizo,.”’ which means to evan~ 
gelize, is used fifty-two times, and the word, “uangel- 
ion,” meaning Gospel, is mentioned some seventy- 
four times. The word “evangel” means “good 
news” or “good tidings.” This word came to us 
7 


8 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


from the Greek, passing into Latin letters, and 
finally reaching us in the English word “evangel.” 
From this we derived the kindred words “evangel- 
istic” and “evangelize.” 

The word “Gospel” comes from an Anglo-Saxon 
source and means etymologically, the “God-story,” 
but in practical usage “good news.” In reality 
“evangel’” and “‘gospel”’ are synonymous in meaning. 

It will help us to get a glimpse of the picture out 
of which the word “gospel” was born. We must 
imagine a city endangered by an invading army. The 
brave defenders of the city go far afield to meet the 
invading forces. They engage the enemy in deadly 
conflict, the battle rages and waxes hot. 

The inhabitants, including the old men, women 
and children, wait anxiously and impatiently behind 
city walls for some word from the front. There are 
no telephones, automobiles, airplanes, or express 
trains to bring the message. Every nerve is strain- 
ed, every ear is listening, and every eye is fixed to- 

_| ward the battle field. Presently out of the dust, far 

\ off in the dim distance, appears the figure of a run- 
ner. He is hot, tired, and dusty, but is bending 
every nerve to reach the gates of the city. The 
brave defenders have won the day, and this runner 
is the messenger of the “good news.” He tells the 
waiting, anxious populace that the brave defenders 
of the city have won and that the city is saved and 
safe. My! What news, and what a glad and glorious 
day for that city. 

Now, the word evangelist represents this mes- 


EVANGELISM 9 


senger or runner. The message that he brings is the 
good news of the Gospel. 

Evangelism then, in our thinking, as well as in 
its derivative sense, means the proclaiming of the 
‘‘sood news” of the Gospel to Jost human beings 
wherever they are found around the world. 

Evangelism is any effort, on the part of Chris- 
tian people, to win a lost world to Christ. This, 
effort may be an individual effort, a church effort, a | 
co-operative community effort, a city-wide effort, a. 
nation-wide effort, or a world-wide effort. Any 
effort, therefore, directed toward saving a lost world) 
from sin and eternal punishment is ee a 
Call it what you will, it is still evangelism. 

Looking from another angle, Dr. E. Y. Mullins 
in his book, “Axioms of Religion,” aptly defines 
evangelism from a Theological viewpoint. He says, 
“Evangelism is the proclamation to the soul of man 
that God has provided a trysting place, so to speak, 
¢or God and man in Christ. In Christ they meet, 
and face to face settle their controversy. The in- 
carnation is God’s self-revelation as a person, the 
atonement is His provision for human sin.” 

“Hvangelism is the approach of the divine to the 
human person. The high respect which God pays to 
the human personality is seen in the fact that His 
transaction with every sinner in Christ is on the 
basis of that sinner’s private and personal needs and 
conditions. Evangelism is the method of God for 
setting the soul free. He regenerates the spirit of 
man and thus transforms it into a regeneration of 


[a 


10 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


human society. Through evangelism, therefore, 
God grapples directly with man’s deepest problem— 
emancipation from sin.” 

Evangelism is God’s ordained way of reaching a 
lost world. Evangelism originated with God, not 
man. It was born in the heart of God. It is God’s 
plan, through the channel of evangelism, to reconcile 
the world unto Himself. Then how necessary, how 
important, how far reaching, is this something we 
call evangelism. We owe it to God, to a lost world, 
and to ourselves—to understand and practice evan- 
gelism. 

Dr. Henry C. Mabie, in his book entitled, “Method 
of Soul Winning,” gives us some very illuminating 
words in regard to the meaning and nature of evan- 
gelism. He says, “To evangelize, is to tell the good 
news, that which is really news and that which is 
surprisingly joyful news—a real saving message. 
To evangelize is to point out to men how they may 
come into a new moral and religious status, under a 
regime which God has made possible through the 
sacrificial work of Himself in His Son. To evan- 
gelize a soul is to make clear to it the evangelical 
status made possible for it by Christ.” 

The late Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, writing in “The 
Advance” has the following to say, “Evangelism has 
ever been the hope of the church, and properly used 


___ and controlled, is the very greatest possible blessing. 


Evangelism is a spirit and not a method, and this 
is as it should be, for if it were a method, then in 
order to be evangelistic, I must be like other people, 


EVANGELISM 11 


and this would not be possible, or I must use the 
methods of other men, and this might be not only 
distasteful, but disastrous. Since evangelism is a } 
spirit, one has only to yield himself absolutely to / 
Christ, become possessed of His Spirit, follow closely | 

4 : ; : j 
His direction, and as a result we have evangelism of: 
the highest type.” 

Knowing now as we do, the meaning and nature 
of evangelism, we do well to remember that—the 
object of evangelism is to get lost human beings into 
right relation to God; the task of evangelism is the 
salvation of all mankind, and that the scope of evan- 
gelism is as wide as the world. Let us then go forth, 
in the spirit of Him who said, “Follow thou me,” and 
really, “Do the work of an evangelist.” 


CHAPTER II. 
EVANGELISM IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 


‘“‘And I will put enmity between thee and the wo- 
man, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall 
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” 
(Gen. 3:15). : 

This great verse gives us the origin and kernel of 
all true evangelism. Here we have the first promise 
of a Redeemer, who is to come through the seed of 
the woman, to bruise Satan and save a lost human 
race. Here begins the “highway of the seed’”’ which 
leads through Abel, Seth, Noah (Gen. 6:8-10), Shem 
(Gen. 9:26, 27), Abraham (Gen. 12:1-4), Isaac 
(Gen. 17:19-21), Jacob (Gen. 18:10-14), Judah 
(Gen. 49:10), David (II Sam. 7:5-17), to Immanuel 
—Christ, (Isa. 7:9-14; Matt. 1:1, 20-23; I John 3:8; 
John 12:31). The way of the seed, is the way of 
Evangelism. This highway leads to Christ and the 
cross. We have no evangelistic message for a lost 
world, apart from the cross—‘“For without the shed- 
ding of blood there is no remission of sins,” (Heb. 
O22). 

NOAH-——A PREACHER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

“Noah was a Just man, and perfect in his gener- 
ations, and Noah walked with God.” (Gen. 6:9). 

Noah was a “preacher of righteousness” and as 
such warned his generation, but his warning was in 
vain. His generation was so wicked that it “re- 

12 


EVANGELISM IN OLD TESTAMENT | 18 


pented God that He had made man on the earth, and 
it grieved him at his heart.” Violence filled the 
earth and God’s way was corrupted. Finally, in 
disgust, God decreed the ‘‘end of-all flesh,” and the 
Antediluvian civilization. But Noah, God’s mes- 
senger, ‘‘moved with fear, prepared an ark to the 
saving of his house; by the which he condemned the 
world, and became heir of the righteousness, which 
is by faith,” (Heb. 2:7). 

Then the flood came and completely destroyed 
every living thing—save those in the ark. Follow- 
ing the flood came the “Covenant” with Noah, and 
in that Covenant, a prophetic declaration is made— 
that Shem will have a peculiar relation to Jehovah, 
(Gen. 9:26, 27). All divine revelation is through 
Semitic men, and Christ, after the flesh, descends 
from Shem. Thus we trace the course of God’s 
evangelistic message to the world. 

THE CALL OF ABRAHAM. 

Abraham, was not an evangelist in the modern 
sense of the word, but he was called nevertheless, to 
leave his native land and give his life to a divine 
mission. God called him to be a blessing to the 
world and through him ‘all the families of the 
earth” have been blessed. He lived the evangelistic 
life, and through him and his seed, the world has re- 
ceived the evangelistic message. He saw ‘“Christ’s 
day and was glad.” 

THE CALL OF MOSES. 

“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, re- 

fused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter ; 


14 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of 
God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ; 
esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than 
the treasures in Egypt; for he had respect unto the 
recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook 
Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he 
endured, as seeing him who is invisible,” (Heb. 11: 
25-27). 

Thus we see that Moses had evangelistic fazth, 
evangelistic vision, and evangelistic decision. It was 
this man, thus equipped, that God called by the burn- 
ing bush to lead his people out of the bondage and 
sins of Egypt into a larger, and a national life. 

A close study of the life of Moses reveals the fact, 
that he was not only a great law-giver, a mighty 
leader, etc., but that he was intensely evangelistic. 
His invitation to Hobab has become immortal— 
“Come thou with us, and we will do thee good.” His 
mighty. challenge at the foot of Mt. Sinai, after the 
- people had worshipped the golden calf, can never be 
forgotten, where he said, “‘Who is on the Lord’s 
side? let him come unto me,” (Exodus 32:26). Cou- 
ple with this heart-searching appeal, his wonderful 
prayer of intercession—“Yet now, if thou wilt for- 
give their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out 
of thy book which thou hast written,” (Exodus 32: 
32). Here we see the very heart, and passion, of 
this lover of souls. We turn to the Book of Numbers 
(82:23), and find him picturing sin, in words of 
warning, as a sure detective—“Be sure your sin will 
find you out.” This great old text has been the 


EVANGELISM IN OLD TESTAMENT 15 


means under God, of turning multiplied thousands 
from their sins through the centuries. 

It was Moses who made the brazen serpent in the 
wilderness and told the people to look, by faith, and 
live. Those who looked did live. We preach the 
same evangelistic message today—‘‘And as Moses 
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must 
the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever be- 
lieveth in Him should not perish, but have eternal 
life,’ (John 3:14, 15). 

Moses, throughout his long ministry, was contin- 
ually warning the people to turn from their sins and 
be true to God. He did his work so well that when 
life’s day was done God pulled back the veil of the 
sky and said, to Joshua the new leader, ““Moses my 
servant is dead.” This servant, this zealous soul, 
was counted worthy to meet with Jesus, centuries 
later, on the Mount of Transfiguration. Give us 
more servants today with the zeal and passion of a 
Moses. 

JOSHUA. 

Joshua was called to take up the work where 
Moses left off. His first great task was the con- 
quest of Canaan, and his second was the division of 
the land among the tribes. He did his best to stimu- 
late the various tribes to complete the conquest of 
the land in every part, (Josh. 13-21). He tried to 
commit Israel for all future time to faithfulness to 
Jehovah, and as long as Joshua’s associates and his 
personal friends lived, the people were compara- 
tively faithful. It is interesting to note that this 


16 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


busy leader and nation builder had the spirit of 
evangelism. His evangelistic message may be 
summed up in these words: “Choose you this day 
whom ye will serve,” (Josh. 24:15). These are his 
words, and this was the heart of his message. But 
he did more than deliver his message—he lived the 
evangelistic life, and said, to all who heard him, “As 
for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” (24: 
15). The true evangelist, of every age and century, 
must live his message. The man who lives his mes- 
sage is sure to get results. Here is the proof—‘And 
Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, (24: 
81). 
THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES. 

We now come to the “Dark Ages of Israel’s his- 
tory.” It may be described as a period of political, 
social, and spiritual decline. The author of the Book 
of Judges gives us in graphic words the awful picture 
of the nation during this period, ‘““And the people 
served Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the 
days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen 
all the great work of Jehovah, that He had wrought 
for Israel—And there arose another generation 
after them, that knew not Jehovah, nor yet the work 
which He had wrought for Israel. And the children 
of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Je- 
hovah, and served the Baalim; and they forsook Je- 
hovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them 
out of the land of Egypt, and followed other Gods, of 
the gods of the peoples that were round about them, 
and they provoked Jehovah to anger,” (Judges 2:7- 


EVANGELISM IN OLD TESTAMENT 17 


12). We can hardly expect any really great, spir- 
itual movement in a time like this. During this 
period the chosen people went after the false gods 
of the nations round about them,.and as a result 
they were punished and made servants of their ene- 
mies. Alas, they would come to themselves and be 
brought back to God in great revivals led by a 
Deborah or a Gideon. Each generation refused to 
learn from former generations the lesson, that apos- 
tasy from Jehovah meant slavery to heathen oppres- 
sors. So again they sin and are made to serve the 
Philistines as a punishment. This time they are led 
in a great awakening by Samson. The revival at 
Mispen, led by Samuel, is the last great awakening 
of this unfortunate period. This is in brief the 
story of evangelism in the Period of the Judges. 
THE EVANGELISM OF THE PROPHETS. 

The story of God’s people through the long cen- 
turies is after all a little more than the story of 
evangelism. The whole experience of Israel is one 
of declension and revival. To be sure, there were no 
protracted meetings nor evangelistic campaigns in 
the modern sense, but there were nevertheless great 
awakenings, and mighty movements in which the 
people were stirred and led back to God. In every 
period of Israel’s history there were rulers or false 
prophets who would lead the people into sin and 
away from God, but almost immediately some true 
prophet would arise, and lead them back to God’s 
altar. All the way through Kings and Chronicles we 
are told of some Jeroboam, some Ahab, some 


18 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


Amaziah, some Uzziah or some Ahaz who led Israel 
into sin, but almost instantly they tell us of some 
great sweeping reform or revival movement led by a 
Jehoshaphat, a Joah, a Hezekiah or some mighty 
prophet like Elijah. The prophets were in a real 
sense, great revival preachers, and in style, method, 
delivery, and manner of approach, just as varied 
and different as the evangelists of our own time. 
THE MOUNT CARMEL REVIVAL. 

It is not our purpose in this treatise to give in 
detail the work of all the prophets, but simply to 
note some of the outstanding religious awakenings 
of the prophetic period. The mighty leader in the 
revival of Mt. Carmel was Elijah the Tishbite. He 
was God’s true man, God’s dependable man in one 
of the most crucial periods of Israel’s history. The 
situation was serious. Through Ahab and his 
wicked queen Jezebel, the country had been flooded 
with false prophets. Jezebel was full of zeal for 
Baal, and she was determined to introduce his re- 
ligion into Israel, and make Baal worship the religion 
of the country. She introduced 450 prophets of Baal 
and 400 of Astarte. In addition to this, she built 
houses of worship for Baal, and lavished upon the 
new religion the favor of the Court. She did her ut- 
most to exterminate the prophets. Great religious 
centers, like the Schools of the Prophets, were 
broken up. The people followed their queen, and 
for the most part, acquiesced in the change of re- 
ligion. It was a dark hour for true religion, and a 
real man was needed to stem the tide. Elijah was 


EVANGELISM IN OLD TESTAMENT 19 


that man, and he went forth single-handed to fight 
the forces of Baal. He meets King Ahab and 
challenges him for a show down on Mt. Carmel. 
Ahab agrees and the people are summoned, and all 
the forces of Baal are there. The false prophets 
are there. Elijah addresses the people and in that 
memorable address he said, “How long halt ye 
between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow 
Him, but if Baal, then follow Him, and the people 
answered him not a word,” (Kings 18:21). In the 
fire test that followed the false prophets failed. 
Their God was powerless to help. But when Elijah 
cried Jehovah answered, and the altar and offering 
were consumed. “And when the people saw it, they 
fell on their faces, and they said, The Lord, He is 
the God; the Lord, He is the God, (Kings 18:39). 
It was a great hour, Elijah and revealed religion 
won, and the false prophets were defeated and 
slain. Then followed Elijah’s prayer for rain. 
Soon the clouds gathered and the parched earth was 
drenched with refreshing showers. 

This was a genuine revival of old time religion. 
Revivals of this sort, and men of Elijah’s type, are 
needed today. We need men this hour who can 
move both earth and sky. Our prayers should be, 
O God, give us more men with the spirit, courage, 
and power of Elijah. 

THE WATER GATE REVIVAL. 

This is possibly the most modern of all the Old 
Testament awakenings. It was conducted by Ezra 
immediately following the return of the people 


20 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


from the Assyrian captivity. It was a great out- 
door or open-air meeting. The place was before 
the water gate. The people literally filled the streets 
of Jerusalem to have a part in this revival. Ezra 
mounted himself on a pulpit of wood and began to 
read the law of Moses. He read and explained from 
morning till the noon hour, and all the people were 
stirred and moved. They worshipped, lowered their 
heads, wept, and repented of their sins. They also 
observed the Feast of Tabernacles, confessed their 
sins publicly, and signed a covenant pledging them- 
selves to keep the law of God. ‘‘And there was very 
great gladness,” (Neh. 8:17). 

Surely no one doubts that this was a great and 
successful revival. In reality it was a Bible Reading 
revival. Certainly such a revival would be a blessing 
to our modern world. It cannot come too soon. 
Lord, hasten the day! 

OBADIAH. 

Obadiah is, chronologically, the first of the writ- 
ing prophets and the first to use the phrase, “The 
day of the Lord.” His message is directed against 
the sins of Edom. He shows evangelistic fire and 
fervor in condemning the “pride” of Edom, also 
EKdom’s disposition to oppress Judah. Obadiah 
doesn’t mince words. He says “Thou art greatly 
despised.” ‘‘The pride of thine heart hath deceived 
thee.” “Thence will I bring thee down, saith the 
Lord.” ‘For the day of the Lord is near upon all 
the heathen; as thou hast done, it shall be done unto 
thee; thy reward shall return upon thine own head.” 


EVANGELISM IN OLD TESTAMENT 21 


He makes it plain that God’s day of retribution is 
sure to come and that they the Edomites, must pay 
the penalty for their sins. 

JOEL. 

Joel is one of the most spiritual of all the 
prophets. His sensitive soul was stirred to its 
depth as he beheld the moral and spiritual decline 
of his people. He calls upon the “drunkards,” “all 
drinkers of wine,” “‘priests” and “ministers of the 
Altar,’’ to lament and repent, in view of the coming 
“Day of the Lord.” 

“Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and how! all 
ye drunkards of wine.” ‘“Gird yourselves, and 
lament, ye priests; howl, ye ministers of the altar; 
come lie all night in sack-cloth, ye ministers of my 
God, for the meat-offering and the drink-offering 
is witholden from the house of your God.” 

“For the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a 
destruction from the Almighty shall it come.” 

The people are urged in burning words to repent, 
and thrust themselves upon the grace of God: “Yet 
even now, saith Jehovah, turn unto me with all your 
heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and 
with mourning; and rend your heart, and your 
garments, and turn unto Jehovah your God; for He 
is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abun- 
dant in loving kindness, and repenteth Him of the 
evil,” (Joel 2:1-17). 

What modern evangelist could make an appeal 
more stirring and soul moving? The implication, in 
verses 17 and 18, is that. they did repent. To be 


22 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


sure, how could they resist? Such a passion is 
bound to win. 
JONAH. 

Jonah was an evangelist of strange and diverse 
moods, like some modern evangelists, but he was 
nevertheless very effective. It was hard for God 
to get him started toward Nineveh, but when he did 
go something happened. The revival of Nineveh 
stands out as one of the greatest and most far 
reaching in human history. A whole city was 
stirred, a mighty population from the king to the 
lowest citizen was moved, repented, and turned to 
God. t 

“And God saw their works, that they turned 
from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, 
that he had said that he would do unto them; and 
he did it not,” (Jonah 3:10). 

The city was moved, and saved, but the evangelist 
pouted, because results were not as he had predicted 
and expected. How modern! Some evangelists, 
even now, are not willing to leave results in God’s 
hands. | 

AMOS. 

Amos was a herdman and a dresser of sycamore 
fruit. God called him from his rural task to be a 
prophet.. Amos was a native of Tekoa, a city on the 
edge of the desert twelve miles south of Jerusalem. 
He lived in the South but was called to prophesy to 
the Northern Kingdom. He delivered his prophecies 
in the days of Jeroboam II, two years before the 
earthquake of Zech. 14:5. Bethel was the scene of 


EVANGELISM IN OLD TESTAMENT = 23 


his activity. Amos was not educated, but he knew 
men and things, and his soul was aflame with a 
passion for right and justice. He raised his voice 
in defense of the poor and oppressed. He was a true 
and fearless prophet of God. He delivered his mes- 
sages without fear. They were straight from the 
shoulder, and they hit home. There is much that is 
evangelistic in his writings. Some of the greatest 
revival texts of the Christian centuries have been 
gleaned from his messages. It will be interesting 
as well as instructive to note some of them. 

“Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” 
(3:3). “Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan,—which 
oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say 
to their masters, Bring, and let us drink,” (4:1). 
“Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel, (4:12). ‘For 
thus saith the Lord unto the house of Lsrael, Seek ye 
me, and ye shall live,” (5:4). “Seek good, and not 
evil, that ye may live, and so the Lord God of hosts 
shall be with you,” (14:14). ‘‘Woe to them that are 
at ease in Zion,” (6:1). ‘‘Woe to them—that lie 
upon beds of ivory and stretch themselves upon 
their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and 
the calves out of the midst of the stall; that chant 
to the sound of the viol, and invent themselves 
instruments of music, like David; that drink wine in 
bowls, etc,” (6:4-6). “Though they dig into hell, 
thence shall my hand take them; though they climb 
up to heaven, thence will I bring them down,” (9:2). 

HOSEA. 
Hosea was a contemporary of Amos in Israel, 


24 EVANGELISSM IN ACTION 


and of Isaiah and Micah in Judah. His ministry 
was chiefly to the ten tribes, but he also makes 
references to Judah. His style is abrupt, meta- 
phorical, and figurative. There are some striking 
evangelistic texts in his writings. It will be interest- 
ing to note the most helpful and striking of these: 
“Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will 
also forget thy children,” (4:6). ‘For Israel slideth 
back as a backsliding heifer,” (4:16). “Ephraim 
is joined to his idols; let him alone,” (4:17). ‘Come, 
and let us return unto the Lord; for he hath torn, 
and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will 
bind us up,” (6:1). “Israel is an empty vine,” 
(10:1). ‘Therefore turn thou to thy God; keep 
mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God con- 
tinually,” (12:6). ‘‘O Israel, thou hast destroyed 
thyself; but in me is thine help,” (18:9). “TI will 
ransom them from the power of the grave; I will 
redeem them from death; O death, I will be thy 
plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction; repen- 
tance shall be hid from mine eyes,” (13:14). “Take 
with you words, and turn to the Lord; say unto him, 
take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously,” 
(14:2). “Who is wise, and he shall understand 
these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for 
the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall 
walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall there- 
in,” (14:9). | 
MICAH. 

Micah was a native of Moresheth, a village in 

Southwest Judah. He prophesied during the reign 


EVANGELISM IN OLD TESTAMENT — 25 


of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. He was a prophet 
of Judah and his mission was chiefly to the Southern 
Kingdom. Micah was contemporary with Isaiah, 
and is much like that great prophet in style. He is 
vigorous and fearless in his denunciation of sin, yet 
tender and persuasive in appeal. Micah was a man 
of great spiritual power. He says, “I am full of 
power by the Spirit of Jehovah,’ (8:6). It was 
Micah who foretold that the birth of a great Ruler 
(Jesus), would take place in Bethlehem, (Micah 
5 :2-6). 

The following passages may be used effectively 
in revival work: “Is it not for you to know judg- 
ment?” (3:1). ‘‘Hear ye now what the Lord saith,” 
(6:1). “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; 
and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do 
justly, and to love mercy, and to walk with thy God?” 
(6:8). “Who is God like unto thee, that pardoneth 
iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the 
remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger 
forever, because he delighteth in mercy,” (7:18). 

ISAIAH. 

Isaiah is the greatest of the Old Testament 
prophets. He was called of God in a vision, and 
answered that call immediately in those immortal 
words of his, ‘‘Here am I, send me.”” His ministry 
of more than 40 years, extended from the closing 
year of the reign of Uzziah to the end of Hezekiah’s 
reign It was during the latter half of the eighth 
century B. C. His prophet ministry covered the 
stirring period during which Assyria, under the 


26 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


leadership of Pul, Shalmaneser IV., Sargon and 
Sennacherib, repeatedly invaded Syria and Pales- 
tine. From his watch-tower Isaiah surveyed the 
nations, from Assyria and Elam in the East, to 
Egypt and Ethiopia in the Southwest, and Jehovah 
asserted by the mouth of His prophet, His 
sovereignty over all the earth. Isaiah was well 
educated and possessed the most beautiful and force- 
ful style of any of the prophets. He is distinctively 
the prophet of redemption. He gives us the clearest 
view of grace to be found in the Old Testament. He 
gives us a wonderful picture of the Messiah, in his 
Person and sufferings, and the blessings that are to 
come to the Gentile nations through Him. The truth 
is, he takes us right up to the Cross of Christ, and 
permits us to look on as He suffers and dies for a 
lost world. The fifty-third chapter is the greatest 
chapter in the Book of Isaiah, but there are many 
other passages which contain the evangelistic note 
and appeal. The entire Book is intensely evange- 
listic and will be found most helpful in revival and 
evangelistic effort. The following are some of the 
most striking evangelistic appeals and warnings: 
“Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; 
give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of 
Gomorrah,” (1:10). “Come now, and let us reason 
together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as 
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they 
be red like crimson, they shall be as wool,” (1:19). 
“Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him, for 
the reward of his hands shall be given him,” (3:11). 


EVANGELISM IN OLD TESTAMENT 27 


“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; 
that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; 
that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” 
(5:20). “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son 
is given; and the government shall be upon his 
shoulders and his name shall be called Wonderful, 
Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, 
The Prince of Peace,” (9:6). 

“And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, 
which shall stand for an ensign of the people, to it 
shall The Gentiles seek; and his rest shall be 
glorious,” (11:10). 

“And I will punish the world for their evil, and 
the wicked for their iniquity; and will cause the 
arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low 
the haughtiness of the terrible,” (13:11). 

“T will make a man more precious than fine gold; 
even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir,” 
(13:12). 

“Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the 
sides of the pit,” (14:15). 

“All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers 
on the earth, see ye, when he lifted up an ensign on 
the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear 
ye,” (18:3). 

“Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of 
Ephriam, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, 
which are on the head of the fat valleys of them 
that are overcome with wine,” (28:1). 

“Judgment also will I lay to the line, and 
righteousness to the plummet,” (28:17). 


28 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


“Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, 
that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with 
a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add © 
sin to sin,” (30:1). 

“For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Law- 
giver, the Lord is our King; he will save us,” 
(Bot22) 4 

‘‘And a highway shall be there, and a way, and 
it shall be called The Way of Holiness; the unclean 
shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those; the 
waytaring men, though fools, shall not err therein,” 
(35:8). 

“Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; 
for thou shalt die, and not live,” (38:1). 

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew 
their strength; they shall mount up with wings as 
eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they 
shall walk, and not faint,” (40:31). 

“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy 
and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without 
money and without price,” (55:1). 

“He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be 
satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous 
servant justify many; for he shall bear their 
iniquities,” (53:11). 

“Incline your ear and come unto me; hear, and 
your soul shall live,” (55:8). 

“Let the wicked forsake his “way, and the un- 
righteous man his thoughts; and let him return un- 
to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to 


EVANGELISM IN OLD TESTAMENT — 29 


our God, for he will abundantly pardon,” (55:7). 

“There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked,” 
(57:21). 

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that 
it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot 
hear,” (59:1). 

“Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not 
silent,” (62:6). 

NAHUM. 

There is nothing certain known about his 
personal history. He prophesied during the reign 
of Hezehiah. The destruction of Nineveh is the 
theme of his prophecy. He makes it clear that 
Jehovah, because of his holy nature, must deal with 
sin in judgment. There is not much of an evange- 
listic nature in his writings. However, the following 
on the nature of God may prove interesting and 
helpful in this connection: 

“God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the 
Lord revengeth and is furious, the Lord will take 
vengance on his adversaries, and he reserveth for 
his enemies,” (1:2). 

“The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,” 
(1:3). 

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of 
trouble; and he knoweth them that trust him,” 
Cet) 

He prophesied during the reign of Josiah. His 
style is plain and direct. He lived in the time of the 
revival under Josiah, but he made it clear that the 
captivity was impending, and sure to come because 


30 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


of the moral decline of the people. Helpful evange- 
listic passages are few and far between, but the 
following may be noted: 

“Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God; 
for the day of the Lord is at hand; for the Lord hath 
prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests,” (1:7). 

- “Seek ye the Lord,” (2:8). 

“The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is 

mighty ; he will save,” (3:17). 


HABAKKUK. 


Concerning the personal history of this prophet 
nothing is known. He wrote just upon the eve of the 
captivity. He was more concerned that the holiness 
of Jehovah should be vindicated, than that Israel 
should escape chastisement. Habakkuk was God’s 
testimony against idolatry and pantheism. The 
following texts may be noted: 

“The just shall live by faith,” (2:4). 

‘Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, 
that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him 
drunken also, that thou mayest look on their naked- 
ness!’ (2:15). 

JEREMIAH. 


Jeremiah was a priest from the village of Ana- 
thoth, three miles northeast of Jerusalem. His 
ministry began in the thirteenth year of the reign 
of Josiah, and he had a long and eventful career. 
He aided Josiah in his reforms, and was deeply 
moved by his untimely death. After the death of 
Josiah, the kingdom of Judah hastened to its end 


EVANGELISM IN OLD TESTAMENT 31 


in the Babylonian captivity. After the fall of 
Jerusalem, Jeremiah was left with the remnant of 
Palestine. He was finally carried to Egypt by force, 
and died there. Throughout his life opposition and 
persecution were his lot. He was indeed, “a man 
of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” He has 
been aptly called the ‘‘weeping prophet.” The 
evangelistic passages in his writings are as follows: 

“Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the 
Lord, and with your children’s children will I plead,” 
(229) 

‘Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet 
no gods? but my people have changed their glory 
for that which doth not profit,’ (2:11). 

“For my people have committed two evils; they 
have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and 
hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can 
hold no water,” (2:18). 

“Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and 
thy backslidings shall reprove thee; know therefore 
and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou 
hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear 
is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts,’”’ (2:19). 

“Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; 
for I am married unto you,” (2:14). 

“Turn, O backsliding children, and I will heal 
your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for 
thou art the Lord our God,” (3:22). 

“Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physi- 
cian there why then is not the health of the daughter 
of my people recovered?” (8:22). 


32 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


“Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they 
are no gods?” (16:20). 

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and - 
desperately wicked; who can know it?” (17:9). 

“Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so 
are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel,” (18:6). 

“But I will punish you according to the fruit of 
your doings, saith the Lord,” (21:14). 

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye 
shall search for me with all your heart,” (29:18). 

Like Jeremiah, he was a priestly prophet. His 
prophetic ministry was spent among the captives in 
Babylonia, but he was God’s voice to the “whole 
house of Israel’”—the ten tribes. His message be- 
fore the fall of Jerusalem was one of denunciation, 
but after the fall one of promise. In method he 
reminds us of David, and later the Apostle John, as 
he uses the method of symbol and vision. He went 
further than any of the prophets in emphasizing 
individual responsibility. 

His evangelistic contribution may be found in 
the following passages: 

“And thou shalt speak my words unto then) 
whether they will hear, or whether they will for- 
bear; for they are most rebellious,” (2:7). 

“Eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of 
Israel,” (3:1). 

“Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto 
the house of Israel; therefore hear the word of my 
mouth, and give them warning from me,” (8:17). 

‘‘When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely 


EVANGELISM IN OLD TESTAMENT — 33 


die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest 
to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save 
his life; the same wicked man shall die in his 
iniquity ; but his blood will I require at thine hand.” 

“Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not 
from his wickedness, nor from the wicked way, he 
shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy 
soul,” (8:18, 19). 

“And I will give them one heart, and I will put 
a new spirit within you; and will take the stony 
heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart 
of flesh,” (11:19). 

“The soul that sinneth it shall die,” (18:4). 

“Have I any pleasure at-all that the wicked 
should die? saith the Lord God; and not that he 
should return from his ways, and live?” (18:23). 

“Repent, and turn yourselves from all your trans- 
gressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin,” 
(18:30). 

“For I have no pleasure in him that dieth, 
saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves, and 
live ye,’”’ (18:32). 

“But he that taketh warning shall deliver his 
soul,” (88:5). 

“T will seek that which was lost, and bring again 
that which was driven away, and will bind up that 
which was broken, and will strengthen that which 
was sick,” (34:16). 

DANIEL. 

Daniel like Ezekiel, was a Jewish captive in 

Babylon. He had royal blood in his veins. His 


34 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


clean life and prophetic insight, soon brought him 
to a position of prominence and power. Through- 
out his long career he used his position and talents 
for God’s glory. He died in the third year of Cyrus, 
534 B. C. His noble life and character have been 
an inspiration to thousands through the centuries. 
The very life that he lived, will ever be a strong 
evangelistic appeal for our religion. The following 
revival texts may prove helpful: 

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would 
not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat 
nor with the wine which he drank,“ (1:18). 

“Thou art weighed in the balances, and art 
found wanting,” (5:27). 

“And his windows being open in his chamber 
toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three 
times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before 
his God, as he did aforetimes,” (6:10). 

“And they that be wise shall shine as the bright- 
ness of the firmament; and they that turn many to 
righteousness as the stars forever and ever,” (12:8). 

HAGGAIT. 

Haggai was a prophet of the restored remnant 
after the seventy years’ captivity. It was his mis- 
sion to hearten, rebuke, and instruct that feeble rem- 
nant. He encourages and admonishes the builders 
to complete the unfinished temple. His prophecies 
were all delivered in the second year of Darius 
Hystaspis, 520 B. C. 

There is practically nothing of an evangelistic 
nature in his writings. However, the following 


EVANGELISM IN OLD TESTAMENT — 35 


verse may be used: “Now therefore saith the Lord; 
consider your ways,” (1:5). 
é ZECHARIAH. 

Zechariah was also a prophet to the remnant 
which returned after the seventy years. Nothing is 
known about his personal history. His prophecies 
point to both advents of Christ. For our purpose 
the following passages may be noted: 

“Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from 
your evil doings,” (1:4). 

“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for, lo, 
I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith 
the Lord,” (2:10). 

“Behold the man whose name is The Branch,” 
(6:12). 

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O 
daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh 
unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, 
and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of 
an ass,” (1:9). 

‘‘Woe to the idle shepherd that leaveth the flock,” 
CLish?y: 

“And one shall say unto him, what are these 
wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, those 
with which I was wounded in the house of my 
friends,” (13:6). | 

“And his feet shall stand in that day upon the 
Mount of Olives,” (14:4). 

MALACHI. 

The name Malachi means, “my messenger.” He 

is the last of the Old Testament prophets. The bur- 


36 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


den of his message is, the love of God, the sins of 
the priests and the people, and the day of the Lord. 
He sees both advents of Christ and predicts two 
forerunners. A study of the following passages may 
be found helpful in revival work: 

“If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to 
heart, to give glory to my name, saith the Lord of 
hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will 
curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them al- 
ready, because ye do not lay it to heart,” (2:2). 

“But who may abide the day of his coming? And 
who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a 
refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap,” (8:2). 

“‘And I will come near to you to Judgment; and 
I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and 
against the adulteress, and against false swearers, 
and those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the 
widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the 
stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the 
Lord of hosts,” (3:5). 

“Return unto me, and I will return unto you, 
saith the Lord of hosts,” (3:7). 

“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as 
an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wick- 
edly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall 
burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall 
leave them neither root nor branch,” (4:1). 

“But unto you that fear my name shall the Son 
of righteousness arise with healing in his wings,’ 
(4:4), 

Four hundred long years pass by and no 


EVANGELISM IN OLD TESTAMENT = 37 


prophetic voice is heard, from Malachi to John the 
Baptist. But Malachi tells of John’s coming: “Be- 
hold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare 
the way before me,” (3:1). 


CHAPTER ITI. 
EVANGELISM IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 


The New Testament is an evangelistic book. It 
is indeed the best book that has ever been written 
on the subject of evangelism. It contains the very 
heart of our evangelistic message. No work on 
evangelism could, in any wise, claim to be complete 
without a careful study of evangelism in the New 
Testament. Therefore, the author has endeavored 
in this chapter to give a brief survey of New Testa- 
ment evangelism. He has thought it best to link the 
great facts of evangelism to those great personali- 
ties of the New Testament times who made evangel- 
ism real and effective. So naturally we start with 
John the Baptist. 

JOHN THE BAPTIST—THE BOLD EVANGELIST. 

“And in those days cometh John the Baptist, 
preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying Repent 
ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” (Matt. 
eel Abe 

John the Baptist was the first New Testament 
evangelist. He came, as a fulfillment of prophecy, to 
be the forerunner of the Son of God. It was his 
task to blaze the path and prepare the way. He at 
once started on the banks of the Jordan, one of the 
greatest revivals of history. This strange preacher, 
who was different in looks, manner, dress, method 
and message, from all the leaders of the past, drew 

38 


EVANGELISM IN NEW TESTAMENT — 39 


people from every walk of life. His vast audiences 
were made up of every class and clan,—publicans, 
sinners, Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, soldiers, 
poor, rich, cultured and uncultured, people from the 
country, and people from the city. They all came 
to hear John, and they hung upon his words. ‘Then 
went out unto him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all 
the region round about Jordan; and they were bap- 
tized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their 
sins,” (Matt. 3:5). The ground was his pulpit, the 
vaulted sky was the dome of his auditorium, but he 
had the crowds. He not only had crowds, he had a 
message for the crowds—a message from God. It 
was a message of repentance, faith, confession, res- 
titution, and right living. He delivered it straight 
from the shoulder with all the courage and boldness 
of a lion, and yet, with all the tenderness of a lamb. 
The fruit of right living was the condition of accep- 
tance to his baptism. He said, therefore, to the mul- 
titudes that went out to be baptized of him, ‘‘Ye off- 
spring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the 
wrath to come? Bring forth fruts worthy of re- 
pentance,” (Luke 3:7). 

John’s preaching moved the multitudes and got. 
results. “And the multitudes asked him, saying, 
What then must we do?” (Luke 3:10). 

THE SECRET OF HIS SUCCESS. 

1. He was God called and God sent. He was 
God’s ordained man, sent of God, to do God’s work. 

2. He lived a clean life. His life was clean and 
spotless, from infancy until death. 


40 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


3. He was Spirit filled and Spirit led. This ex- 
plains his power and unparalleled success. He was 
the outstanding success of his day, until over- 
shadowed by Jesus. 

4, He dared to be different from the other lead- 
ers of his time. John wasn’t afraid to break with 
custom and precedent, for the good of the cause he 
represented. 

5. John knew God’s will for his life, and did it. 
Like the Master, he was obedient unto death. 

6. John had daily Communion with God. The 
quiet, simple, separated life that he lived was condu- 
cive to communion with God. It takes men mighty 
in prayer to move this world for God. 

7. He possessed a spiritual boldness which has 
never been surpassed. John feared only God. He 
cared little what men thought about him ‘or his mes- 
sage. The word compromise was not in his vocabu- 
lary. He condemned kings, religious leaders, sol- 
diers, and all classes for their iniquitous living. In 
his timely book on Evangelism, Dr. William E. Bied- 
erwolf, says of John the Baptist—“He had backbone 
compared with which, Ulysses’ bow was but a willow 
twig. He never trimmed his sails to win the friend- 
ship of the crowd that had the money and influence. 
If all the preachers whose lips have been padlocked 
by fear and whose voices have been choked by ex- 
pediency and a man-pleasing spirit would stand up 
and make a confession of it, we would know one of 
the reasons why the church has gone off and played 
the harlot with the world as much as she has.” 


EVANGELISM IN NEWTESTAMENT = 41 


We need more preachers today with the spirit, 
conviction, and courage of John the Baptist. It will 
take a mighty army, like John, to stay the drift of 
our time and bring the world back to God. Give us 
more Johns in our pulpits, and then we shall have 
crowded churches, and a better world. Save us from 
the compromising, time-serving, salary-drawing, 
good-for-nothing, ease-loving preacher. He has 
been “weighed in the balances and found wanting.” 

8. John was humble and free from jealousy. 
He was so humble and free from jealousy that he 
was willing to “decrease” in order that Christ, his 
Lord and Savior might ‘increase.’ There was no 
ministerial jealousy in John. ‘“‘And he preached, 
saying, There cometh after me he that is mightier 
than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy 
to stoop down and unloose. I baptize you with wa- 
ter; but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost,” 
(Mark 1:7, 8). 

9. John believed and preached an old-time Holy 
Ghost and fire religion. ‘‘He shall baptize you with 
the Holy Ghost and with fire; whose fan is in his 
hand, thoroughly to cleanse his threshing floor, and 
to gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he 
will burn up with unquenchable fire,’ (Luke 3:16, 
17). This is what John preached, and what we 
should preach today. The world needs it, and is 
waiting for it. 

10. John pointed men, not to himself, but to 
Jesus. “Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away 
the sin of the world!’ (John 1:29). This is the 


42 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


heart of his message. To deliver this message he 
came, and because he did it faithfully, he was slain. 
A cruel world killed his body but could not kill his 
soul. His work still abides, and his influence will go 
on forever. 

“Among those born of women there is none 
greater than John the Baptisth,” (Luke 7:28). This 
is his fitting epitaph written by the finger of Christ 
across the centuries. 


JESUS CHRIST—-THE MODEL EVANGELIST. 


“Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan, 
to be baptized of him,” (Matt. 3:13). 

“T came to seek and to save that which was lost.” 
—Jesus. | 

“Repent ye, and believe the gospel.’”—Jesus. 


Jesus is the greatest evangelist of all time. He 
is the ideal and model for every age and century. 
Of all the evangelists that have stalked the face of 
the earth—‘“‘Never man spake like this man.” He is 
in a class all to himself, and human words and hu- 
man knowledge, are inadequate to classify him. Yet, 
He says, ‘“‘Come,” and “learn of me.” This is the 
only way by which we can ever hope to master the 
finest of all arts—the art of the evangelist. His in- 
vitation still holds good, “Come ye after me, and I 
will make you fishers of men,” (Matt. 4:19). 

To all evangelists He sends out the challenge— 
“Follow thou me,” (Jno. 21:22). In these words He 
means to say, live as I live, pray as I pray, preach as 
I preach, love as I love, and win asIwin. This 


EVANGELISMIN NEW TESTAMENT 43 


challenge is worthy of the best there is in us, and 
nothing less than our best will meet it. 


HIS EVANGELISTIC CHARACTERISTICS. 


1. He lived the evangelistic life. His life was 
holy, sinless, and perfect. He lived in the same 
world that we do, grappled with life’s problems, met 
life’s temptations, faced the same sins, met the same 
Devil, “Was tempted in all points as we are, and yet, 
without sin.” Not one time did He stoop to spot the 
canvas of His Soul. ‘I find no fault in Him,” is the 
verdict of the ages. Such a life is irresistible. Jesus 
lived the message that He preached. It is no wonder 
that, “the people heard Him gladly.” They saw God 
in Him. And if we are to win, in our day and gen- 
eration, the world must see Christ in us. 

2. He had a message direct from God. He came 
to speak for the Father and said, “The word which 
ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me,” 
(Jno. 14:24). This explains why He spoke, ‘‘As one 
having authority, and not as the Scribes and Phari- 
sees.” The note of authority is always essential to 
successful evangelism. We must speak God’s mes- 
sage, and that alone, if we are to reach and win. ‘‘O 
son of man, thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, 
and warn them for me,” (Ezek. 33:7). 

8. He knew the Scriptures, and used them 
mightily. He defeated the Devil by shooting him 
full of Scriptures. On another occasion He made 
men’s hearts burn within them as he opened unto 
them the Scriptures. In discourse, and in conversa- 


44 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


tion He made frequent use of God’s word. He knew 
it, and He used it. 

The evangelist can have no better weapon, than 
a thorough knowlege of the word of God. How can 
he win without it? ‘For the word of God is quick, 
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged 
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul 
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a 
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart,” 
(Heb. 4:12). 

4, Jesus knew men. We are told that “He knew 
what was in man.” He knew the human mind, the 
human heart, and human nature as no other evange- 
list has known, or can know them. Men were 
startled and surprised when He told them their 
thoughts and the secrets of their hearts. We may 
not be able to know men as Jesus knew them, but it 
is certainly our duty, as soul winners, to try to know 
and understand them better. We should make the 
Psychology of human nature a life long study. 

5. He had compassion for the lost. The world 
has never seen such love, such compassion. When 
the lost multitudes sought Him and He beheld them 
as sheep without a shepherd, we are told that, “He 
was moved with compassion.” All through His 
ministry we see His great, compassionate heart, 
going out in love, sympathy, and service, to a lost 
and helpless world. 

6. He wept for a lost world. His compassion 
was so great it turned into tears. See Him as He 
stands on the brow of Olivet and weeps for a lost 


EVANGELISM IN NEW TESTAMENT = 46 


city. ‘“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest 
the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto 
thee, how often would I have gathered thy children 
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under 
her wings, and ye would not!” (Matt. 23:37). 

Again at the grave of Lazarus when He saw the 
unbelief ‘of the people who stood by,” we are told 
that “Jesus wept,” (John 11:35). 

The evangelist who hasn’t wept for lost men, 
will never win lost men. The promise of success is 
to the one who goeth forth weeping. ‘He that 
goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed 
shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing 
his sheaves with him,” (Ps: 126:6). 

7. Jesus knew how to illustrate the truth He 
taught. He took His illustrations from the Scrip- 
tures, nature, and life. He quoted nature more times 
than He did the Old Testament. His heart beat 
with nature’s heart. All of His illustrations came 
from a source easily understandable to the people. 
His intimate knowledge of life, and the Old Testa- 
ment Scriptures, enabled Him naturally to draw 
bountifully from these sources. we are also told that, 
“He spake many things unto them in parables,” 
(Matt. 31:3). His apt and skilled use of the parable 
has been the marvel and wonder of all great teachers 
since His day. 

So we learn from Jesus that it pays to illustrate 
the truth we would teach and preach. We should 
never be afraid of illustrations that illustrate. 

8. He had tact. In dealing with lost men and 


46 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


women Jesus was.as, “wise as a serpent and as harm- 
less as a dove.” His rare tact has been the admira- 
tion of every true soul winner. His tact in dealing 
with the Samaritan woman, at Jacob’s well, fur- 
nishes an ideal example for the soul winners of all 
time, (Jno. 4:1-39). Note His introduction, His 
skillful approach to the great theme of eternal life, 
and His clear logic-reasoning from the known to 
the unknown, from the simple to the complex. 

9. He was approachable... Anyone could ap- 
proach Jesus and feel at ease in his presence. The 
blind, lame, halt, rich, poor, cultured, and uncultured 
—all classes, came to Him and felt welcome. His 
great heart and arms were open to the lost multi- 
tudes about Him. The true evangelist must be like 
Him. 

10. Jesus was sincere. Nothing light, careless, 
irreverent, nor hypocritical can be found in His 
ministry. His was the most sincere life ever lived 
in this world. His sincerity has never been ques- 
tioned. We too, must be sincere if we want to be 
successful in wooing and winning men to the better 
life. Insincerity is the height of hypocricy in any 
sort of Christian work. God, save thy servants 
from insincerity! 

11. He had the spirit of sacrifice. His life 
began and ended in sacrifice. It was he, “Who being 
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be 
equal with God; but made himself of no reputation, 
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was 
made in the likeness of men; and being found in 


EVANGELISM IN NEW TESTAMENT 47 


fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became 
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,” 
(Phil. 2:6-8). He not only gave up His heavenly 
home with the Father, but gave time, energy, talent, 
and finally life itself. Doing all, He cried, “What 
more can a man do than lay down his life for his 
friends?” What more could He do? What more 
can we do? Wecan’t do more, but we must be 
willing to do that, if we are to catch His spirit. 
God’s appeal to us is, “Present your bodies a living 
sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God, which is your 
reasonable service,” (Rom. 12:1). 

12. Jesus knew how to pray. His prayer life 
has never been surpassed. How it stirs our very 
souls, even now, to read His prayers. He lifts us to 
the skies as we read that mighty prayer of inter- 
cession in John 17. Our hearts are torn and broken 
as we see Him prostrate on His face, praying His 
way, through the garden of Gethsemane to the cross 
of Calvary. “And being in agony he prayed more 
earnestly; and his sweat became as it were great 
drops of blood falling down upon the ground,” 
(Luke 22:44). 

When we read this heaven-moving, and earth- 
lifting prayer of Jesus, we feel as did the disciples 
of old, who were so moved by His praying that they 
exclaimed, “Lord, teach us how to pray.” 

138. He was moved, inspired, and led, by the 
Spirit ofGod. This explains His power, His miracles, 
His mighty works. The scholarly Nicodemus was 
right when he said of Jesus, “For no man can do 


48 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


these things which thou doest, except God be with 
him,” (Jno.’/3 2): 

If we as evangelists, and soul-winners of our 
time are to do any mighty work for God, we too, 
must be filled and led by the Holy Spirit. “Ye shall 
receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon 
you,” (Acts 1:8). 

14. This, greatest evangelist of all the centuries, 
was a tireless worker. “My Father worketh until 
now, and I work,” is His challenge to the workers 
of every generation. There was nothing idle and 
lazy in the makeup of Jesus. Work was the tonic 
of His soul. He said, “I must work the works of 
Him that sent me,’ (Jno. 9:4). The true winner 
must be a worker. He must be ‘“‘willing to spend 
and be spent” for the souls of others. 

Jesus was true to His mission. He did His work 
so faithfully and well, that God the Father on two 
occasions, broke the silence of heaven and earth and 
said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased.” Alas, when His earthly work was done, 
He looked away from His cross up into His Father’s 
face and said in words immortal, “It is finished.” 
His was a finished work. 


SIMON PETER—THE EVANGELIST OF PENTECOST. 


“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be 
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus 
Christ unto the remission of sins, and ye shall re- 
ceive the gift of the Holy Spirit,” (Acts 2:38). 

Simon Peter stands out as an evangelist of world 





' EVANGELISM IN NEW TESTAMENT 49 


renown. The revival of Pentecost has made his 
name immortal. Just think of it, in one day, he con- 
ducted the greatest revival of history. It will pay 
us to halt just here and note some of the characteris- 
tics of this mighty, soul-stirring, heart-pricking, 
spiritual movement: 

1. They were ‘all together in one place.”’ The 
people were there. A real sweeping revival is im- 
possible until folks are willing to put aside every- 
thing else and get together. 

2. They were “all of one accord.” They were 
praying and working for the same thing. There 
were no divisive elements, no trouble makers, no 
knockers. They were all thinking, planning, and 
doing the same thing. 

3. They “all prayed.” Yes, for ten days and 
nights they prayed. They had ten days of prayer, 
and one day of preaching. Surely this should teach 
us that prayer is more important than preaching 
in our soul-saving work. After all, who can preach, 
really preach, without an atmosphere of prayer? 
They were “all filled with the Holy Ghost.” This 
means they all had power. ‘Ye shall receive power 
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” A revival 
without the power and leading of the Holy Spirit is 
unthinkable and impossible. 

5. They “all began to speak—as the Spirit gave 
them utterance.” It is easy to speak for God when 
we are filled with the Spirit, and impossible to speak 
effectively without Him. 

6. They were “all amazed.” The most amazing 


a0 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


thing in the world is a good ,old-fashioned, New Tes- 
tament, prayed down, Holy Ghost, revival. 

7. They all listened and gave close attention to 
the sermon of Peter. And it was a mighty sermon 
too. The world has heard few like it. Study it 
closely and you will find that it contains all the 
great fundamental doctrines of Christianity—tre- 
pentance, faith, sin, hell, baptism, the deity of 
Christ, the second coming, etc. 

8. They were “pricked to their hearts.” The 
sermon, driven by the power of the Holy Spirit went 
home to their hearts, and they cried, ““What must 
we do?” A good gospel sermon, driven by the power 
of the Holy Spirit is sure to reach human hearts. 
God’s “word,” thus spoken, “Will not return unto 
Him void.” 

9. The revival of Pentecost was a soul-winning 
revival. Three thousand repented, were baptized, 
and then added unto the church. This day has 
never been surpassed in Christian history. It is the 
greatest revival and soul-saving day the church of 
Christ has known. 

10. This revival was lasting and continous. We 
read that, “they continued steadfastly in the apostles 
doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, 
and in prayers,—And the Lord added to the church 
daily those who were being saved,” (Acts 2:42, 47). 


SOME WINNING TRAITS OF SIMON PETER. 


1. He was wide awake and full of life. 
2. Enthusiastic. 


EVANGELISM IN NEW TESTAMENT © 51 


3. Optimistic. 

4. Courageous. 

5. Bold. 

6. Simple and direct in method. 

7. Preached an unadulterated gospel, straight 
re 


8. Had faith in God ,and His message. 

9. Knew the Scriptures. 
10. Loved His Lord. 
11. Depended on the power of the Holy Spirit. 
12. And he was mighty in prayer. 


Simon Peter had his faults, but he overcame 
them one by one, until he became in reality God’s 
rock man. He was a mighty preacher, and one of 
the world’s greatest soul-winners. He won Corne- 
iius and his household to Christ and thus unlocked 
the Kingdom to the Gentile world. He aided Paul 
and the other apostles in the work of extending his 
Master’s kingdom. In addition, we have two letters 
from his pen. But the greatest work of his life and 
the thing that makes his name immortal is the re- 
vival of Pentecost. He was the evangelist on that 
great day. Simon Peter and Pentecost are insepar- 
able. However, he didn’t let the success of that 
great day spoil him, or make him “think more 
tughly of himself than he ought to think.” He toiled 
on until the end of the day. Finally the day ended, 
the shadows lengthened, the curtain was drawn, and 
the grand old Apostle died heriocally for the Christ 
he had once denied. 


l 


52 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


PHILIP—-THE DEACON EVANGELIST. 

“Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, 
and preached Christ unto them,” (Acts 8:5). 

Philip was one of the seven deacons of the Jeru- 
salem church, and filled that office so well, that God 
called him into larger work. Henceforth, he is 
known as “Philip the evangelist,” (Acts 21:8). He 
began his evangelistic career in the city of Samaria, 
(Acts 8). The whole city was stirred, and the news 
of this mighty spiritual awakening spread to all 
the region round about—even unto Jerusalem. 
John and Peter heard about it and rushed down to 
lend a helping hand. We are told that many believed 
and were baptized. 

After this campaign closed in the city of Sa- 
maria, Philip was ordered by an “Angel of the Lord” 
to go at once toward Gaza. He arose and went, and 
almost immediately started a revival in the chariot 
of the Ethiopian eunuch. He explained to him the 
Scripture, led him to believe, and didn’t stop until 
he baptized him. This is a splendid example of 
personal evangelism. After Philip and the eunuch 
came out of the baptismal waters we are told, “The 
Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip,” (Acts 8:39). 

We get our next glimpse of him at Azotus: “But 
Philip was found at Azotus; and passing through 
he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesa- 
rea,’ (Acts 8:40). It seems that from this time on 
Philip must have made Caesarea his home and evan- 
gelistic headquarters. Nothing more is recorded of 
his work, but Paul on his last journey to Jerusalem 


EVANGELISM IN NEW TESTAMENT = 58 


tarried many days at Caesarea in the home of this 
old soldier of the cross: “And the next day we that 
were of Paul’s company departed, and came to 
Caesarea; and we entered into the house of Philip 
the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and 
abode with him,” (Acts 21:8). 


EVANGELISTIC TRAITS OF PHILIP. 


1. Philip not only loved his Lord, but he loved lost 
men from the depth of his soul. 

2. He was obedient. When God said go, he went. 

3. He knew how to explaczn, and make clear, the 
Scriptures. 

4. He was empowered, led, and directed by the 
Holy Spirit. 

5. He was faithful to Christ to the end. 


BARNABAS—-THE EVANGELIST OF CONSOLATION, 


“He was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost 
and of faith; and much people was added to the 
Lord,” (Acts 14:20). 

We get our first glimpse of Barnabas in Acts 
4:36, 37 which reads thus, “And Joseph, who by the 
apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is being 
interpreted, The Son of Consolation), a Levite, and 
of the country of Cyprus. Having land, sold i*, and 
brought the money, and laid it at the Apostle’s feet.” 
Here we see this great liberal-hearted man giving 
everything he had to Jesus Christ and the infant 
Church. He had already given his life, and now he 
goes all the way and gives his possessions. 

We see Barnabas next at Jerusalem introducing 


54 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


Saul, and vouching for the genuineness of this con-_ 
version. “And coming to Jerusalem, he assayed to 
join himself to the disciples; but they were all afraid 
of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. But 
Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, 
and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in 
the way, and that he had spoken to Him, and how 
he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of 
Jesus,” (Acts 9:27, 28). 

Our next view of his labors is in the revival at 
Anttoch, (Acts 11:20, 26). This soul-sweeping re- 
vival was started by some earnest workers, from 
Cyprus and Cyrene, who had been attending the 
Jerusalem vrevival.. They were forced to leave 
Jerusalem because of “the persecution that arose 
about Stephen.” ‘“‘When they were come to Antioch, 
they spake unto the Greeks, preaching the gospel of 
the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with 
them; and a great number believed and turned to 
the Lord. Then tidings of these things came unto 
the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem; and 
they set forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as 
Antioch. Who when he came, and had seen the 
grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that 
with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the 
Lord. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy 
Spirit and of faith; and many people were added 
unto the Lord.” The work of this city-wide revival 
at Antioch was too much for Barnabas, and feeling 
the need of competent assistance, “He went to 
Tarsus, to seek Saul; and when he had found him, 


EVANGELISM IN NEW TESTAMENT _ 55 


he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, 
that for a whole year they assembdled themselves 
with the church, and taught a great multitude.” 

From this time on Barnabas was the companion 
and co-worker of Paul in all his great evangelistic 
efforts, until finally they were parted assunder in a 
sharp contention over John Mark, (Acts 15:39). 

“And so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto 
Cyprus,” (Acts 15:39). Here the curtain is drawn 
and we hear nothing more of the work of this good 
man. We have every reason to believe that he toiled 
on faithfully to the end of life’s day. Paul’s words 
in 1 Cor. 9:6 seem to indicate this. 


EVANGELISTIC TRAITS OF BARNABAS 


1. He made a complete surrender of his life to 
Christ. This is absolutely necessary to the highest 
success in soul-winning. 

2. He gave all his earthly possessions to Christ. 
He gave life and money both, to his Lord for the 
furtherance of His Kingdom. He had nothing to 
withhold from Him. 

3. He was a “good man.” Not perfect, but good 
in motive, deed, and life. How can a man win souls 
unless he is good in heart, thought and life? 

4. He was full of the Holy Spirit.” This means 
he had power. The crying need of this hour, is for 
just this kind of power. We must depend more upon 
the Spirit, and less, on methods and machinery. 

5. He was also “fuli of faith.” He believed in 
God. He had faith in his God, his Christ, his mes- 


56 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


sage, his work, and the co-operating power and lead- 
ing of the Holy Spirit. He also had faith in 
humanity. 

6. He was a “counselor,” a comforter of human 
hearts. This surely is a part of the work of every 
true evangelist. Surely it is our business to put 
heart, purpose, and hope into broken and depressed 
human lives. All along the way we are to hearten, 
inspire, and uplift the sons of men. 

We must be a comforter and consoler of human 
hearts if we are to be like Jesus. “Let not your 
hearts be troubled,” was His message, and it should 
be ours today, and every day. 

7. Barnabas was free from jealousy and envy. 
You remember when Paul and Barnabas started out 
together, in the great business of soul-winning, that 
it was Barnabas who played the leading role. But 
it wasn’t long until the man of superior ability and 
leadership overshadowed him. Yes, but be it ever 
to the glory of Barnabas—he was willing to walk 
in Paul’s shadow. He was absolutely free from 
ministerial jealousy. There was nothing little, con- 
temptible, and mean about Barnabas. He was the 
first, among the early church leaders, to recognize 
the superior ability of Paul. It was for this reason 
that Barnabas sought his assistance in the revival at 
Antioch. Barnabas knew well that his gifts were 
not comparable to those of Paul, and he was always 
willing and perfectly content to follow his superior 
leadership. The sole interest of Barnabas was the 
furtherance of the Kingdom of God, and he did not 


EVANGELISM IN NEW TESTAMENT — 57 


care who led, just so the kingdom of God went on. 
This should be the spirit of all Christian workers. 
We should be only too glad to follow in the steps of 
those who have been blessed with superior gifts. 
We should fall in line, reinforce their efforts, and 
thank God for them. 

8. Barnabas was a soul-winner. We are told that 
“many people were added unto the Lord,” because of 
his efforts. Barnabas had his place and work, and 
his reward awaits him. “And they that be wise 
shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and 
they that turn many to righteousness as the stars 
for ever and ever,”’ (Dan. 12:3). 

PAUL—THE WORLD EVANGELIST. 

“T have become all things to all men, that I! 
might by all means save some,” (1 Cor. 9:22). 

Paul was the evangelist to the whole civilized 
world of his day. His great, evangelistic journeys 
took him from Arabia to Rome, and possibly to 
Spain. Palestine, Asia and Europe became his 
battleground. He was, without question, the 
greatest traveler of his time. He didn’t travel as 
an ordinary globe trotter, but as the greatest evange- 
list of the world. 

Paul, whose original name was Saul, has been 
called the apostle to the Gentiles. He tells us that 
he was of the “‘tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the 
Hebrews,” born in Tarsus, the chief city of Cilicia, 
in Asia Minor. He describes his birth-place as a 
“city of no mean ability.” He was brought up a 
Pharisee, and educated at Jerusalem, at the feet of 


58 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


Gamaliel, one of the greatest teachers the Hebrew 
race has ever produced. Paul’s vernacular tongue 
was Greek, but his residence in Palestine gave him a 
knowledge of the Syro-Chaldaic of that day, which 
is called in the New Testament—“Hebrew.” His 
broad scholarship, and wide range of reading, show 
that he was acquainted with several of the Ancient 
Greek poets, whom he occasionally quoted. Like all 
Jews, he was brought up to know a trade, which, in 
his case was that of a tent maker. His residence at 
Jerusalem augmented his natural regard for 
Judaism, and led him while yet a young man, to 
bear his testimony against Christianity, by consent- 
ing to the martyrdom of Stephen, and watching 
over the clothes of those who stoned him. This 
tragedy gave him a thirst for blood and started him 
on a wild rampage of persecution, in which he did 
his utmost to blot out the infant church. 

However, Christ stopped him, and soon the 
great land marks of his life began to appear. Fore- 
most of all was his conversion A. D. 38; which be- 
came the tap-root of his after life. Then his evange- 
listic labors at Antioch, A. D. 42; his missionary 
journey in the eastern part of Asia Minor in which 
he first assumed the character of an apostle to the 
Gentiles; his visit to Jerusalem A. D. 50, to settle 
the question of the relation of the Gentile Christians 
to the law of Moses; his second missionary journey 
in which he introduced the gospel into Europe, in- 
cluding his visit to Philipp, Athens, and Corinth. 
Then comes his third great missionary journey 


EVANGELISM IN NEW TESTAMENT — 59 


which was chiefly marked by a long stay at Ephesus, 
and the giving to the world his four leading Epistles. 
Then followed his visit to Jerusalem, A. D. 58, and 
his apprehension there, with his long confinement 
at Caesarea, and his eventual imprisonment at Rome, 
A. D. 61, from which he wrote most of his other 
epistles. Concerning his later history we know 
nothing. As to his temperament and character, 
Paul is his own best painter. His humility induced 
him to abandon the grand and kingly title of “Sazl,” 
and assume the humble one of “Pawl,’”’ which means 
‘Vittle one.” This title was very appropriate as it 
corresponded so well with his bodily stature, but it 
was adopted, no doubt, from a sense of deep 
humility, which made him count himself to be ‘“‘less 
than the least of all saints, and not worthy to be 
called an Apostle.” 

His speeches and epistles convey to us the truest 
impression of him. In these we perceive the warmth 
and ardor of his nature, his affectionate disposition, 
the tenderness of his sense of honor, the courtesy 
and personal dignity of his bearing, and his perfect 
frankness. We see also the rare combination of sub- 
tility, tenacity, and versatility existing in his great 
intellect, coupled with a practical vision, a for- 
bearance, and tolerance seldom combined in one 
personality. This in brief is a summary of the life 
and character, of the world’s greatest man, and the 
greatest single product of the Christian religion. 
Never in the history of the race has there been so 
much wrapped up in one human being. 


60 EVANGELISM IN ACTION \ 
EVANGELISTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF PAUL. 

1. He had a genuine experience of grace. His 
conversion was the most real thing of his life. That 
noon-day vision of Christ never faded, but became 
brighter and brighter with the passing of the years. 
Christ was the one great reality of his life. 

2. He had a clear and definite call to the work 
of an evangelist. ‘And I said, Who art thou, Lord? 
And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecut- 
est. But arise, and stand upon thy feet; for I have 
appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a 
minister and a witness both of these things in which 
thou hast seen, and in those things in which I will 
appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, 
and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, 
to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness 
to light, and the power of Satan unto God, that they 
may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance 
among them that are sanctified by faith in me. 
Whereupon,...... I was not disobedient unto the 
heavenly vision.” (Acts 26:16-19). 

3. He had the spirit of sacrifice. He sacrificed 
everything he had in this world for his Lord, and 
“counted it as but refuse.” He rejoiced in all his 
tribulations, and was glad that he could “bear the 
marks of the Lord Jesus” in his own body. He put 
his possessions, his position, his talent, his time, his 
body, his life—his all, on the altar of sacrifice. Ev- 
erything he had belonged to Jesus. His, is the most 
complete surrender of life that the world has ever 
seen. He had a deep sense of humility. He was the 


EVANGELISM IN NEW TESTAMENT 61 


most humble of men. He counted himself to be “‘less 
than the least of all saints, and not worthy to be 
called an apostle.” 

5. His passion for lost men is one of the out- 
standing traits of his evangelistic makeup. “I say 
the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also 
bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have 
great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. 
For I could wish that myself were accursed from 
Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to 
the flesh.” (Rom. 9:1-3). He also tells us that he 
was “willing to spend and be spent” for the souls 
of others. A passion like this is bound to win. 

6. He possessed the finest combination of head, 
and heart power, the kingdom of God has witnessed. 
Paul was a man of deep learning, and broad cul- 
ture, and it didn’t make him a fool. He had common 
sense enough, and religion enough, to use it all for 
God’s glory. 

Some evangelists of our time seem to be afraid 
of culture and learning while others seem to think 
an education is “all” you need. Both are wrong. 
Scholarship and true religion can, and should go to- 
gether. Paul has shown us the way. 

7. He was adaptable in his methods. He says 
of himself, “I have become all things to all men, 
that I might by all means win some,” (1 Cor. 9:22). 
He kept clear of ruts. He was always looking out 
for some better way to do the Lord’s work, and to 
reach lost men. 

8. He was as bold as a lion. He faced kings, 


62 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


corrupt officials, organized vice, angry mobs, the 
Sanhedrin, false philosophers, sinners down and out, 
and sinners up and out, and on each and every 
cccasion he “shunned not to declare the whole 
counsel of God.” | 

9. He was persuasive in appeal. His method 
was not that of a driver, nor a dictator. He said, 
‘we persuade men.” This should be our method. 
He could exhort, reprove, rebuke, and yet in it all 
there was a persuasive note. 

* 10. He was a man mighty in prayer, and full of 
the Holy Spirit. The two go together. A great 
prayer life, means great spiritual power. All that 
Paul said, did, lived, preached, and thought, was 
done in the power of the Spirit. His whole life was 
led, and shaped, by the Spirit of God. Just here it 
seems altogether fitting and appropriate to add, the 
glowing tribute to the Apostle Paul, from the pen of 
Dr. L. R. Scarborough in his book entitled, ‘““With 
Christ After The Lost.” ‘“‘The Apostle Paul is by uni- 
versal consent recognized as the finest product of the 
Gospel, and the greatest man yet made by the crea- 
tive and recreative power of God. He tops all others 
in character, as a spiritual philosopher, Christian 
statesman, mission leader, church builder, religious 
writer, doctrinaire, preacher of the gospel, religious 
teacher, and soul-winning evangelist. He is Christ’s 
Master soul-winner. His influence in the world to- 
day after twenty centuries is next to Christ’s. He 
is God’s most powerful human advocate and ex- 
ponent. He is Christ’s noblest witness. He ranks 


EVANGELISM IN NEW TESTAMENT _ 63 


first in the world’s long list of evangelists. He said 
he was the chief of sinners. The world says he is 
the chief of saints.” 

The above is a wonderful and worthy tribute, 
but this discussion would not be complete without 
Paul’s own testimony concerning his life’s work. 
He lived, and wrought so well, that at the end of the 
way he could look up into his Master’s face and say 
in words immortal, “I have fought the good fight, I 
have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 
henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, 
shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but 
also unto all those who have loved his appearing,”’ 
(2 Tim. 4:7-8). 

PAUL’S FAITHFUL HELPERS. 

No man ever surrounded himself with a finer 
group of helpers. Any discussion of New Testament 
evangelism that would ignore this splendid company 
of soul-winners would certainly be incomplete. 
“What a glaxy of stars!” Let us call the roll and 
know their names: Silas, Timothy, who was urged 
to “do the work of an evangelist,” Luke, the faith- 
ful and “beloved physician,” Mark, who was alas 
found profitable to Paul in the work, Titus, Tychicus, 
Trophimus, Aristarchus, Erastus, Epaphras, Gaius, 
Clement, Tertius, Jason, Sosipater, Justus, Crescens, 
Epaphroditus, Achaicus, Stephanus, Fortunatus, 
Apollos, and many others. What a brilliant group 
of young men. These were all evangelists in the 
highest and best sense. Paul surrounded himself 


64 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


with these, trained them, and then sent them out to 
“do the work of an evangelist.” 

Paul was a genius in organization. He knew how 
to organize, enlist, and use, the talents and gifts of 
other men. He knew the vaule of team work in win- 
ning the lost world. Happy indeed is that pastor or 
evangelist who can harness and use the gifts of 
others, in this greatest of all work. What a picture 
to behold on that last great day, to see Paul, and his 
immortal staff, lined up with the thousands they 
won while on earth. Lord Jesus, make us worthy 
to look on. 








CHAPTER IV. 


THE OUTSTANDING EVANGELISTS OF THE CHRISTIAN 
CENTURIES. 


“Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, 
and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the utter- 
most part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). 

“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel 
to every creature,” (Mark 16:15). 

“Go ye therefore, and disciple all the nations, 
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to 
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded 
you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end 
of the world,” (Matt. 28:19-20). 

The story of evangelism from the days of the 
apostles, to the present century, is a wonderful story. 
There is nothing to match it in human history. It 
would indeed be interesting and intensely thrilling, 
to give the life story of all the leading soul-winners 
from Paul, until now, but time and space forbid. 
So we must content ourselves here, by simply point- 
ing out some of the greater lights of evangelistic 
history. During the centuries immediately follow- 
ing the Apostles we read of the great names of 
Polycarp and Ignatus. They were mighty men and 
their labors extended far beyond Smyrna and 
Antioch. Both suffered martyrdom for their loyalty 
to the gospel. The next in this glorious line is 

65 


66 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


Origen. He was a great writer and a mighty 
preacher. He preached in great centers of popula- 
tion like Alexandria, Caesarea, and Jerusalem. 
Other worthy names are those of Basil the Great, 
Gregory, Nazianzen, and John Crysostom. They 
defied imperial threats, persecution, false philosophy, 
and deep seated paganism, and stirred the whole 
East with their burning messages and powerful 
evangelistic fervor. 

Following these was the world renowned Augus- 
tine. This giant of the early centuries was author, 
thinker, teacher, philosopher, preacher, theologian, 
and evangelist, all combined. One of the greatest 
events in the history of evangelism is the occasion 
on which he preached one great sermon, and brought 
hundreds of the Mauretanians through tears to God. 
He was God’s great man and did God’s work in a 
great and wonderful way. He belongs to the ages. 

Other worthy names of this early period are 
Hilary, Leo, Thedoret, and Patrick of Ireland, but 
the greatest of these is Patrick. 

PATRICK OF IRELAND. 

He was born in Scotland about 372 A.D. We are 
told that his father was a priest. Patrick was 
captured when but a youth by the barbarians of 
Ireland, but later made his escape. He was so 
moved by the needs of this wild and wayward people, 
that in after years he went back to Ireland as an 
evangelist of the gospel of Christ. He traveled all 
over the Island, preaching in open places wherever 
he could get a hearing, the unsearchable riches of 


OUTSTANDING EVANGELISTS 67 


Christ. Many were led to Christ by his blessed and 
fruitful ministry. To make his work lasting and 
permanent, this wise builder, established missions 
everywhere. He says of himself, “I went to the 
people of Ireland to preach the gospel, and suffered 
many insults from unbelievers, and many persecu- 
tions, even unto bonds, giving up my liberty that I 
might be a blessing to others.” 

Another has said of him, ‘‘In all that he did, and 
in every moment of every day, he relied upon the 
constant guidance and support of that God whose 
word he was engaged in publishing.” Patrick indeed 
had the heart, and spirit, of a true evangelist. He 
is known to the world as the “Apostle to Ireland.” 


THE DARK AGES. 


Through the long, dark, medieval centuries the 
evangelistic fires burned low. The spiritual life of 
the world was at a low eb, and this explains the 
absence of evangelistic preaching. But in spite of 
this long night of superstition, cloistered error, and 
spiritual decline—a few fervent souls burn and 
shine out through the darkness of that awful night. 
Among these daring souls are such names as John 
of Damascus, Columban, Boniface, the Venerable 
Bede, Ansgar, Rabanus, Anslem, Peter the Lombard, 
Arnold of Brescia, Ethelred of Revesby, Bernard 
of Clairvaux, Peter Waldo, Hugo of St. Victor, 
Thomas Aquinas, Francis of Assissi, Anthony of 
Pauda, Berthold of Regensburg, Bonaventura, 
David of Augsburg, and John Tauler. The most 


68 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


noted of these from an evangelistic standpoint are 
Anthony and Berthold. 
ANTHONY OF PAUDA. 

He was born at Libson, Portugal, 1195 and died 
at Pauda, Italy 1231. Pauda was the scene of his 
principal labors, and also the resting place of his 
bones. The early part of his career was varied and 
romantic. He was first an Augustinian monk, then 
a Franciscan, and was finally ordained to the priest- 
hood. But he did not find himself until he was ap- 
pointed traveling evangelist. This was his work, 
and for ten long years he put his very soul into it. 
His preaching tours took him throughout Italy and 
France. Wherever he went great crowds thronged 
to hear him. He spoke out boldly against the sins 
of the time, and as a result won many converts to 
Christ. He was a born preacher and winner of 
souls. His labors were crowned with marvelous 
success. His ministry was brief, but intensive. He 
died at the early age of thirty-seven. 


BERTHOLD OF REGENSBURG. 


He was born in Regensburg, Bavaria 1220, and 
died 1272. We know practically nothing concerning 
his life, with the exception of his wonderful preach- 
ing. Our only glimpse of the man is in his work. 
He is simply known as “Brother Berthold.” He was 
a Franciscan evangelist. He was not a great scholar, 
but a powerful preacher. His ministry was felt 
throughout Bavaria, Serbia, Alsace, Switzerland, 
Austria, Bohemia, and Eastern Germany. Great 





OUTSTANDING EVANGELISTS 69 


crowds thronged him wherever he went and thou- 
sands were turned away from their sins. Like John 
the Baptist, he called all classes to“repentance,” and 
held up Christ as the world’s only Savior from sin, 
and eternal punishment. He called all who heard 
him to a higher and better life. He had no organi- 
zation to conserve the results of his work, but the 
world was truly blessed by his faithful ministry. 
Eternity alone, can give him the full credit he 
deserves. 
THE REFORMATION PERIOD. 

In this stirring period we are greeted by such 
names as John Wickliffe, who translated the Bible 
into English, organized a staff of evangelists, and 
sent them up and down England to preach the living 
word; John Huss, Jerome of Prague, Savonarola, 
Martin Luther, Melancthon, Zwingli, John Calvin, 
John Knox, John Taussen, John Laski, and many 
others. 

We do well to remember that the great Refor- 
mation Revival was more than a theological contro- 
versy. It was not simply a movement back to New 
Testament truth, but a movement back to God. Men 
agonizing, and convicted of sins, were searching for 
the way of life. It was a mighty spiritual move- 
ment, and lost men by the thousands found Christ 
as their Savior during this period. To be sure, not 
all the reformation leaders were evangelists, in the 
modern sense, but the spirit of evangelism was in 
the movement itself. However, we find a few 
great souls who had the spirit and fire of true evan- 


70 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


gelism. It will be well worth our while to note some 
of them here. 
JOHN HUSS. 


John Huss was born in Bohemia in 13873. He 
was a mighty thinker, and theologian. In theology 
he agreed with Wickliffe. He was the John the 
Baptist of his time, in that he paved the way for the 
coming of Luther. He blazed the path and started 
the battle against the sins and heresies of the 
papacy and the Roman Church. He did it by both 
tongue and pen. For this offence he was summoned 
before the council of Constance, condemmed, and 
burned at the stake, but his ashes still live. The 
people loved him and flocked to hear him. He has 
been called the “darling of the Bohemian people.” 
Controversy and persecution hindered his evange- 
listic efforts, but in spite of this hindrance, many 
were saved through his ministry. He was burned 
at the stake in 1415. His body was burned to ashes 
but his influence still lives. He has left forever his 
footprints upon the sands of time. 


SAVONAROLA OF ITALY. 


He was born at Ferrara, Italy 1452. His life 
was pure and clean from beginning to end. His 
bitterest enemies conceded this. He was patriot, 
preacher, and evangelist. As a preacher he stands 
among the most eminent in history, and for eloquence 
he has never been surpassed. He took up the torch 
of evangelism and made it burn for God. Great 
crowds thronged to hear him, and many were con- 


OUTSTANDING EVANGELISTS 71 


victed of sin and turned to God under his mighty 
ministry. He condemned sin wherever he found it. 
Popes, kings, politicians, peasants—all classes were 
rebuked, and called to repentance, by this uncom- 
promising preacher. He fought the world’s sin, and 
the world killed him. A cruel system killed his body, 
but could not kill his soul—he lives on. 


JOHN KNOX OF SCOTLAND. 


John Knox was born in Scotland 1505, and died 
1572. He was educated at the University of Glasgow. 
He was ordained a priest in 1580, but a study of the 
church Fathers soon led him to the Scriptures and 
away from the Catholic Church. He became evan- 
gelical in his views and cast his lot with the re- 
formers. He was soon the recognized leader of his 
native land. He led the movement that saved Scot- 
land for Protestantism. In his battle against sin 
and error, he was firm and unyielding. Compromise 
was not in his makeup. He fought kings, queens, 
councils, popes, rotten politicians, error, and sin of 
every description. He was a brave-hearted preacher 
and his power over men was wonderful. Through 
his intensive labors thousands were saved to Christ, 
and fro mthe error of Rome. 

FROM THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY TO OUR OWN TIME. 

This is the most glorious period of evangelism in 
history. It is the golden age of evangelism. In it 
we find such names as Baxter, Bunyan, John Livings- 
ton, Wesley, Whitefield, Fuller, Carey, Jonathan 
Edwards, Spurgeon, Jaques Bridome, Charles of 


72 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


Bala, Backus, Rowland Hill, Nettleton, Beecher, 
Finney, Kirk, Baker, Asbury, Cartwright, Otterbein, 
Albright, Roger Williams, David Brainard, Griffin, 
Lamphier, Taylor, Dow, Moody and Sankey, Major 
Penn, Munhall, Torrey and Alexander, Sam Jones, 
Gordon, Morgan, Chapman, Dixon, Mullins, George 
Stuart, Gypsy Smith, Norris, Truett, Billy Sunday, 
and scores of others. This is a wonderful roll, and 
there are many others just as faithful and deserving, 
who should be added if space permitted. 

We shall now look more at length at a few of the 
representative types in the above list. . 


JAQUES BRIDOME. 


He was, as his name would indicate, a French- 
man. He was born in 1701 and died in 1767. He 
was a Jesuit evangelist, and he held great sweeping 
revival missions throughout France, and especially 
in the great centers. He was the Whitefield of 
France. He was eloquent, and mighty in appeal. 
His rather sensational methods, and simple gospel 
appeal drew large crowds to his missions. He was 
a tireless worker, and we are told that he held 256 
revivals during his ministry. As a result of his 
labors thousands were saved and added to the 
Catholic Church. The simple gospel that he preached 
won in spite of the errors of Rome. 


JOHN WESLEY. 


John Wesley was born in 1708, and died in 1791. 
He came through a long line of preachers and 
preaching blood naturally flowed through his veins 


OUTSTANDING EVANGELISTS 73 


He, came from a good family, and had a great 
mother. He was educated at Oxford. He is best 
known to us as the founder of the Methodist Church, 
but he was more as his ministry has been a blessing 
to all Christendom. He was one of the greatest 
evangelists of all time. He traveled, wrote, preached, 
taught, prayed, and planned. He was a tireless 
worker and a soul stirring preacher. He often 
preached three and four times a day. Great 
audiences from 10,000 to 25,000 often hung upon 
his words. Thousands were swept into the Kingdom 
through his wonderful ministry. He was a match- 
less outdoor preacher, and most of his great revivals 
were held in the open air. His labors were not con- 
fined to his own country. He preached throughout 
England, Seotland, Ireland, Wales, and even unto 
America. Wherever he preached he struck the 
human conscience. He loved the souls of men and 
became one of the world’s greatest winners. He 
conserved the results of his work through one of the 
greatest organizations in history—the Methodist 
Church. He spent much time in writing, and some 
300 volumes are attributed to his pen. He lived a 
clean, simple life in the conscious presence of God. 
God was with him and his mighty power rested 
graciously upon him. The Methodist Church is his 
abiding monument. 
GEORGE W HITEFIELD. 

He was born in 1714 and died 1770. He was 
educated at Oxford, and was a contemporary and 
companion of John Wesley. He lived a busy, event- 


74 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


ful, and crowded life. He was a great, heart reach- 
ing, traveling evangelist. ‘His preaching, for 
earnestness, eloquence, and immediate effect, was 
the admiration of his age.” He got immediate 
results, and thousands were turned to Christ through 
his irresistible logic: and heart stirring appeals. 
The power of his eloquence has never been surpassed. 
He preached mostly in the open, as there were no 
buildings large enough to accomodate the throngs 
that came to hear him. He was great as a winner 
and popular preacher, but lacked the organizing 
ability of Wesley. His ministry was spent in Eng- 
land, Scotland, and America. 


CHARLES G, FINNEY. 


The great Finney was born in Warren, Conn., 
1792, and died 1875. He became a Christian at the 
age of 29. He started life as a lawyer, but soon 
turned preacher in answer to the call of God. His 
ministry began in the Presbyterian Church, but God 
had in store for him a greater and larger work. He 
was to be the servant of All. This many sided man 
was a lawyer, scholar, college president, and evange- 
list. His greatest work was in the field of evange- 
lism. Here he found himself. Soon he was called 
to hold revivals in the great centers of population. 
He conducted great sweeping, community-moving, 
city-stirring, revivals in most of the great cities of 
America and England. In these campaigns, literally 
thousands were brought to the feet of Jesus Christ. 
His sermons were clear, logical, and convincing. He 


OUTSTANDING EVANGELISTS 75 


addressed himself to the human conscience, rather 
than to the emotions. He was mighty in prayer and 
full of the spirit. Students, scholars, plain people— 
all classes were attracted and moved by his preach- 
ing. His methods were modern, simple, and direct. 
He depended much on the Holy Spirit. His success- 
ful ministry is a conclusive proof, that real scholar- 
ship, and true evangelism, can be happily combined. 
Charles G. Finney will ever stand in the front rank 
of the world’s greatest evangelists. 


DWIGHT L. MOODY. 


He was born at Northfield, Mass, in 1837 and 
died in the year 1899. He went away to Boston 
when he was seventeeen years of age and began 
work as a shoe clerk in his uncle’s store. He was 
given the place on condition that he would go 
regularly to church and Sunday-school. This was 
not hard for him to do as it was in line with his 
habits. He did not become a Christian, however, 
until after a visit to the shoe store by his Sunday- 
school] teacher. It was the immediate influence of 
Mr. Edward Kimble, his faithful Sunday-school 
teacher, that led him to a definite decision for Christ. 
He then gave up what promised to be a successful 
business career to devote his life to evangelistic 
work. It is interesting to let Mr. Moody himself 
speak concerning those early days. He says, “I had 
never lost sight of Jesus Christ since the first night 
I met him in the store at Boston. When I went to 
Chicago, I hired five pews in a church, and used to 


76 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


go out on the street and pick up young men and fill 
up those pews. I never spoke to those young men 
about their souls; that was the work of the elders, 
I thought. After working for some time like that, 
I started a mission Sabbath school. I thought 
numbers were everything, and so I worked for 
numbers. When the attendance ran below one thou- 
sand it troubled me; and when it ran to twelve or 
fifteen hundred I was elated. Still none was con- 
verted; there was no harvest. Then God opened my 
eyes——and kindled a fire in my soul that has never 
gone out. I was disqualified for business; it had 
become distasteful to me. I had gotten a taste of 
another world, and cared no more for making money. 
For some days after, the greatest struggle of my 
life took place. Should I give up business and give 
myself to Christian work or should I not? I have 
never regretted my choice. Oh, the luxury of leading 
someone out of the darkness of this world into the 
glorious light and liberty of the gospel.” 

It would be interesting to follow the inspiring 
story of Dwight L. Moody in minutest detail, but we 
must content ourselves here with the great points of 
his wonderful career. They are as follows: 


1. He was converted in 1854, and joined the 
Congregational Church. 

2. Went to Chicago in 1856. Organized a Sun- 
day School Class of his own in Plymouth Congrega- 
tional Church, but later rented a saloon and moved 
his headquarters to North Side. 


OUTSTANDING EVANGELISTS TT 


8. Founded the North Market Mission. 

4. Founded the ‘Moody Church” in 1868. 

5. Met Ira D. Sankey in 1872, and made him his 
life long evangelistic partner. 

6. Went to Great Britian in 1873 and amazed 
that country with his evangelistic efforts. 

7. Founded the Northfield Seminary for girls 
in 1875. 

8. Founded the Mount Vernon School for Boys 
in 1861. 

9. Established the awa Bible Institute of 
Chicago in 1889. 

10. Founded the Northfield Training School] for 
women in 1890. 

11. Became the world’s greatest evangelist, 
with the possible exception of Billy Sunday. 


WINNING CHARACTERISTICS OF DWIGHT L. MOODY. 


1. He knew his Lord. His conversion was the 
one great reality of his life. 

2. He knew the English Bible, and quoted it 
freely. 

3. He was an interesting speaker. He was a 
good story teller, and never lacked for a story or 
anecdote to illustrate the point he was trying to 
make. His sermons were in reality, a series of 
anecdotes, mixed with scriptural quotations, and 
stirring appeals. 

4, He was apt in the use of striking illustrations. 
He could preach for weeks without repeating a story 
or using an illustration the second time. 


78 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


5. He was a great organizer. It was through 
organization that he conserved the results of his 
great life’s work. 

6. He loved men, and “love never faileth.” He 
was the evangel of love. He broke men’s hearts. 
His great heart power has never been equalled by 
any modern evangelist. 

7. He was mighty in prayer, sane in method, 
and was led by the Holy Spirit. 

Ira D. Sankey, the famous associate of Mr. 
Moody in evangelistic work, said in an article 
published in Success: ‘‘l consider Dwight L. Moody 
the most remarkable man of his century, distin- 
guished especially for his devotion to the cause of 
Jesus Christ and the betterment of the world. His 
character is marked by great common sense and by 
the utmost sincerity; his heart by singleness of 
philanthropic purpose, and his life by tremendous 
power of achievement. His work has resulted in the 
conversion of hundreds of thousands of men and 
women.” 

The evangelistic career of D. L. Moody startled, 
and moved, both England and America. He is dead 
and gone to his reward, but his work lives on. ‘“‘He 
being dead, yet speaketh.” 

CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON. 

He was born in Kelveton, England in 1834 and 
died at Mentone, France in 1892. He was the 
greatest Baptist preacher of his time and the 
greatest pastor-evangelist of all time. He shines 
not as a traveling evangelist, but as a pastor. He 


OUTSTANDING EVANGELISTS 79 


began his ministerial career very young and at the 
early age of twenty became pastor of New Park 
Street Baptist Chapel in London. Under his wise 
and powerful leadership this church grew into the 
great “Metropolitan Tabernacle.” He gave his life 
to this church and was pastor for thirty-eight years. 
In many respects it stands out as the world’s great- 
est church. People from all parts of the world went 
to hear Spurgeon. His great sermons were charged 
with the spirit of evangelism, and they still live. 
They have been published, read and re-read around 
the world. He put Christ in all of his sermons, and 
rarely closed without making a direct appeal to the 
lost. This explains why it was that people were 
saved in practically every service. He was a great, 
convincing, and constructive soul-winner. He not 
only won souls himself, but he inspired and taught 
others. His “‘Pastoral College” is a monument to 
his memory. Thousands have gone out from this 
place to bless the world. He also founded an orphan- 
age, and edited a journal. He was God’s busy man. 
SAM JONES. 

Sam Jones has been aptly called, ‘‘The greatest 
celebrity of his day.” He was indeed a strange and 
unique character, but he was also one of the most 
outstanding figures of his day. It was he who held 
millions spell-bound in the forensic arena during 
the days of such gladiators as Robert G. Ingersoll, 
Henry Ward Beecher, and T. DeWitt Talmage. 
Great audiences roared with laughter at his daring 
wit; wept because of his power over their emotions; 


80 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


and started life anew under the spell of the mighty 
gospel that he preached. 

He was born in Chambers County, Alabama, 
October 16, 1847, and died near Memphis, Tenn., 
October 15, 1900. He was brought up for the most 
part at Cartersville, Ga. He was educated for the 
bar, and was admitted to the Georgia bar in 1860. 
But strong drink almost wrecked his career as a 
lawyer. He was converted in 1872 and admitted to 
the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, in the same year. After serving as pastor 
for a number of years he became a_ traveling 
preacher for the Methodist Church. The success of 
this work led him into the field of a general traveling 
evangelist. 

He met with extraordinary success from the 
first, but his efforts were confined mainly to the 
Southern states. At last, he attracted the attention 
of Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage, who employed him in a 
great revival at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. From 
this time on, Sam Jones became a national figure and 
attracted nation-wide attention. His evangelistic 
efforts prospered with increasing success, until he 
became one of the best known evangelists of his 
time. He was a strong advocate of total abstinence, 
clean living, and aggressive Christianity. His 
' sermons were simple and unconventional, but 
abounded in wit and slang. He was the most sen- 
sational preacher of his time, yet, his meetings drew 
great crowds and resulted in immense harvests of 
converts. Wherever he went he was endorsed by 


OUTSTANDING EVANGELISTS 81 


most of the leading orthodox ministers of his day, in 
spite of his eccentricities. He was in great demand 
as a Chautauqua lecturer, and was a vigorous 
champion in the cause of prohibition. His life and 
work have had a lasting and telling effect on the 
cause of evangelism. Some of his methods and say- 
ings are still used. He was in a class all his own. 
There has been but one Sam Jones, and will possibly 
never be another. He was God’s man doing God’s 
work in his own inimitable way. Mr. Roosevelt, on 
one occasion, in the presence of a great audience of 
thousands of people, said to Mr. Jones, “You have 
done as a private citizen what I have tried to do as 
a public servant.” 
3 REUBEN ARCHER TORREY. 

Reuben Archer Torrey was born in Hoboken, 
New Jersey, January 28, 1856. He graduated at 
Yale University in 1875, and at the Yale Divinity 
School in 1878. He became a Congregational minis- 
ter in 1878, studied theology at Leipzig and Erlanger 
in 1882 and 1888. In 1889 he joined D. L. Moody 
in his evangelistic work in Chicago, and in 1894 be- 
came pastor of the Chicago Avenue Church, and a 
little later superintendent of the Moody Bible Insti- 
tute. From 1902 to 1907 Mr. Torrey, in company 
with Charles M. Alexander, the great singing evan- 
gelist, conducted evangelistic campaigns in various 
parts of the world. These campaigns took him 
through the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, 
Tasmania, New Zealand, India, England, and Scot- 
land. : 


82 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


Dr. Torrey is now pastor of “The Church of the 
Open Door,” and president of “The Bible Institute,” 
Los Angeles, Colifornia, where he is winning, train- 
ing, and sending out pastors, evangelists, and 
missionaries to the ends of the earth. He is a great 
soul winner, and has a consuming passion for lost 
souls, and will go down in history as one of the 
world’s leading evangelists. Long may he live to 
serve his generation. 

J. WILBER CHAPMAN. 

J. Wilbur Chapman was born at Richmond, 
Indiana, June 17, 1859, and died December 25, 1918. 
He was born into a home of fortune and sunshine, 
but financial reverses coupled with the untimely 
death of his mother caused the shadows to lengthen 
and the clouds to hang low over the Chapman home. 
But this reverse of fortune did not daunt the con- 
quering spirit of young Wilbur. His eyes were set 
on the future and he was determined to do and be 
something in life. He sold newspapers before and 
after school hours, in order to assist in the upkeep 
of the home. He finally worked his way to Lake 
Forest University, from which he graduated in 1879, 
and then entered Lane Theological Seminary, Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, where he graduated in 1882. 

While a student at Lake Forest University, 
which was in easy reach of Chicago, he came under 
the influence of that prince of evangelists, Dwight L. 
Moody. Mr. Moody made a lasting impression on 
young Chapman, and was largely instrumental in 
shaping his career as an evangelist. Dwight L. 


OUTSTANDING EVANGELISTS 83 


Moody left behind him two faithful disciples, who 
have most worthily maintained his traditions and 
perpetuated his ideals, namely, J. Wilber Chapman 
and R. A. Torrey. It was Mr. Moody who advised 
Mr. Chapman to give his whole time to evangelistic 
work. It was a Northfield Conference, where Mr. 
Moody said. on one occasion to a great Scottish 
divine, “I am anxious for you to meet Dr. Chapman 
tomorrow, for in this young man is wrapped up the 
hope of American evangelism.”’ 

Dr. Chapman’s long experience in the pastorate 
was an excellent preparation for his work as a 
world- wide evangelist. He served as pastor at 
Liberty, Indiana; Schuylerville, and Albany, New 
York; the Fourth Ave., Presbyterian church, New 
York City, and he was twice pastor of Bethany 
Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia—the largest 
Presbyterian church in the world at that time. 

In the field of evangelism, as secretary of evan- 
gelism for the Presbyterian church, he evolved the 
“Simultaneous Campaign’ idea, and applied it to 
some sixty of the largest cities of America. The 
first of these campaigns was put on at Pittsburgh 
and the last one at Boston. The movement, from 
the first, overflowed denominational bounds, and be- 
came a blessing to all denominations. Thousands, 
in every city, were brought into the Kingdom of God 
as a result of this movement. 

In 1908, Dr. Chapman formed a partnership 
with Charles M. Alexander, the world’s greatest 
leader of gospel music, and for ten years their lives 


84 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


were linked together in the great work of evangel- 
ism. They conducted their first campaign in Phila- 
delphia, and from Philadelphia they went to the ends 
of the earth. These two men of God held great, 
sweeping evangelistic meetings in nearly all of the 
great cities of the United States, Canada, Great Bri- 
tain, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan and 
Korea. They have both gone to their reward, but 
the world is richer, sweeter, and better because they 
lived. 
SOME WINNING TRAITS OF DR. CHAPMAN. 

1. He was always the same, both in and out of 
the pulpit. Wherever you saw him he was the same 
kind, considerate, friendly, and loving Wilbur Chap- 
man. 

2. He was a man of charming courtesy and 
beautiful Christian dignity. 

3. He was a polished Christian gentleman. 

4. He was a lover of his brethren. 

5. Dr. Chapman was a true friend and helper 
of preachers. He has been aptly called “the preach- 
er’s friend.”’ He knew their problems, joys and sor- 
rows, and sought to enter into their lives. He was 
never known to say an unkind word about a brother 
minister, either in public or in private. 

6. As a speaker, he was always interesting and 
inspiring—a finished orator. He made each person 
in the audience feel that he was talking to him. 
There was a sweet, wooing note in his voice that 
thrilled the hearts and dimmed the eyes of his hear- 
ers. 





OUTSTANDING EVANGELISTS 85 


7. His English was terse, and his sentences 
were short, swift, and heart-piercing. 

8. He was apt in the use of vivid and gripping 
illustrations. He always used illustrations that il- 
lustrated. , 

9. He knew and loved his Bible. It was to him 
the very word of God. He believed it, taught it, and 
preached it with marvelous effect. 

10. He had a deep concern, and a consuming 
passion for a lost world. 

11. He was endued with the power of the Holy 
Spirit. He had power both with God and men. 

12. And last, but not least, he was a man of 
prayer, and rare consecration. 

Wilbur Chapman was a man of many gifts, and, 
be it said to his credit, he used them all for the glory 
of God. His consuming passion for the lost and his 
deep desire to be the “servant of all’ caused him, no 
doubt, to burn out his great and useful life prema- 
turely. He has been taken from us, but his work 
still abides. ‘‘He that doeth the will of God abideth 
forever.” | 

CHARLES M. ALEXANDER. 

The “apostle of sunshine and song,” as Charles 
McCallon Alexander has been aptly called, was born 
at Meadow, Tennessee, October 24, 1867, and died 
at “Tennessee” his home Birmingham, England, Oc- 
tober 10, 1920. 

He was born into a home of religion, music, and 
song. His father, John D. Alexander, was a natural 
musician, and was elder and song leader in the lit- 


86 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


tle Presbyterian church near the Alexander home. 
His mother, Martha McCallon Alexander, was not 
only a woman of deep piety, but had a sweet musical 
voice. Young Charles Alexander, therefore, inheri- 
ted his musical talent from both sides of the house. 
His father was his first music teacher, and taught 
him early to lead the Sunday School song service at 
the little church nearby. Charles finished his mu- 
sical education at Maryville University and Moody 
Bible Institute. Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey both 
had a great and lasting influence upon his life. He 
began his public career, as a gospel singer, by con- 
ducting the music for the Moody Institute tent meet- 
ings held in the slums of Chicago, and by leading 
the singing in the great Sunday School of the Moody 
church. During the World’s Fair in Chicago, Mr. 
Alexander was made director of the music, in the 
Gospel Campaign conducted by Mr. Moody through- 
out the city. This was a great training and a won- 
derful experience for the young singing evangelist. 
In the field of general evangelism Charles M. 
Alexander was associated with three outstanding 
evangelists during his busy and eventful life. He 
was associated with Evangelist M. B. Williams for 
eight years; with Dr. R. A. Torrey in his evangel- 
istic tours around the world, and with J. Wilbur 
Chapman for ten years. His evangelistic career 
took him four times around the world. His travels 
took him through the Antipodes, New Zealand, Aus- 
tralia, India, Ceylon, the British Isles, the United 
States, Canada, China, Korea, Japan, and the Islands 


OUTSTANDING EVANGELISTS 87 


of the sea. Wherever he went he took his Master’s 
message in song. His shining face has been taken 
from us but his work will shine on forever. “They 
that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the 
fifmament, and they that turn many to rigtheous- 
ness, as the stars for ever and ever.” (Dan. 12:3). 


WINNING TRAITS OF CHARLES M. ALEXANDER. 


1. Charles M. Alexander knew his art—he knew 
music. He was a diligent student of others, and was 
always looking for some better way to improve his 
art. 

2. He knew his Lord. It was as natural for him 
to talk to his Lord as it was to talk to some intimate 
friend. This explains his power in prayer. 

3. He knew folks—simple human beings. And 
he was a keen student of crowd psychology. 

4. He was the greatest director of song that the 
world has ever seen. He knew how to get the most 
out of an audience or a chorus. 

5. He put his whole soul into his singing. He 
sang from his heart, and spared not himself. 

6. He was never discouraged, but always happy 
and optimistic. His smile was a message of cheer 
and hope. 

7. He was a great personal worker. He loved 
lost men and was willing to spend and be spent for 
their souls. His earnest zeal in soul-winning was 
only equaled by the tact and courtesy with which he 
went about it. His resourcefulness was extraordi- 
nary, and he had no set rules of approach beyond 


88 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


those which governed his behavior as a Christian 
and a gentleman. 

8. He loved his Bible and made it his daily com- 
panion. He not only loved the Bible himself, he 
wanted others to love it and know it, so he gave to 
the world the “‘Pocket Testament League.” 

Charles M. Alexander is an ideal model for the 
singing evangelists of all time. Give us more like 
him. 

WILLIAM A. SUNDAY. 

Billy Sunday is God’s twentieth century miracle, 
and the greatest living evangelist. Some consider 
him the greatest evangelist since the Apostle Paul. 
He was born at Ames, Iowa, in 1862. First, he be- 
came famous as a baseball player, and had an inter- 
national reputation as such. But God had another 
plan for his life, and halted his course through street 
preaching in the city of Chicago. Like Saul of Tar- 
sus, young Sunday turned all his baseball energy 
into the channel of soul-winning. Soon he climbed 
to the place of foremost evangelist of the world. He 
helped drive out the saloon, and he is still on the 
Devil’s trail. He has preached in all the great cities 
of this country, and his far-reaching, city-wide cam- 
paigns have been the marvel of our time. 

His work is so organized that no clan or class 
can escape the influence of his campaign. He touch- 
es every phase of city life. The world has never 
seen anything like it. No building will hold his 
crowds, and great tabernacles are constructed to 
hold the vast throngs who come to hear his mes- 


OUTSTANDING EVANGELISTS — 89 


sages. He never trims his sails, but preaches 
straight from the shoulder. No man ever hit sin 
harder. He preaches the gospel in simplicity and 
power, and hundreds of thousands have been won to 
Christ through his great ministry. He believes, pro- 
claims, and defends the Bible from cover to cover. 
He preaches Christ and Him crucified, and holds 
Him up as the only hope for a lost and dying world. 
He believes mightily in prayer, and in the work and 
leading of the Holy Spirit. He is the greatest soul- 
winner of the Christian centuries. 

(His methods and work are discussed further in 
the chapter on “Co-operative Evangelism’’). 


CHAPTER V. 
THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM. 


“But speak thou the things which become sound 
doctrine,” (Titus 2:1). 

“Till I come, give attendance to reading, to ex- 
hortation, to doctrine,’ (1 Tim. 4:13). 

“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine,” 
(1 Tim. 4:16). 

It is not the writer’s purpose in this chapter, to 
deal with all of the great doctrines of Christianity, 
but only those doctrines directly related to evangel- 
ism. There are certain fundamental doctrines nec- 
essary to any true and lasting evangelism. The 
truth is, evangelism should not be called evangelism, 
unless, it is grounded in the doctrines of the New 
Testament. It is impossible to “do the work of an 
evangelist” as it should be done without clear and 
definite views about God, Sin, Atonement, Salvation, 
and Immortality. God’s evangel must speak with a 
note of certainty. It takes positive preaching to 
move a sin-cursed world toward God. The man who 
doesn’t know, and believe, the great doctrines of the 
Bible, has no message for hungry, perishing, human 
souls. We should not be afraid of the word doctrine, 
because it has been misused and abused. It is a good 
word, and more, it is a New Testament word. No 
one can preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ with- 
out preaching doctrine. The sum total of New Tes- 

90 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM 91 


tament teaching constitutes the doctrines of Chris- 
tianity. These, we are commanded to teach, and 
preach, to “every creature” of the earth. We are to 
“speak the things which become sound doctrine.” 
Now, if evangelism is to be sound, and lasting, it 
must be based upon the New Testament. 

Let us then see what the New Testament teaches 
on the doctrines which are so vital to evangelism. 


THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD. 


“For one is your Father who is in heaven,” 
(Matt. 23:9). 

In the Old Testament God is thought of as the 
King, and Father, of the Jewish people. Father- 
hood in the Old Testament is legal and special, rath- 
er than universal. God is thought of as Father of 
the Nation, rather than the individual. Thus, the 
deliverance of the nation from Egypt was:the favor 
of a Father to His child: “When Israel was a child, 
then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.” 
(Hos. 11:1). The sin of the people is pictured as 
the disobedience of children towards their Father: 
“T have nourished and brought up children and they 
have rebelled against me,” (Isa. 1:2). God’s atti- 
tude toward Israel was fatherly, but the people, as 
yet, did not understand that God in His very essence 
is, fatherly love, and that all men are the objects of 
His loving care and compassion. It was left for Je- 
sus Christ the Son to reveal God as a loving Father. 

Is God, therefore, the Father of all men?’ This is 
the question that concerns evangelism. If God is 


92 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


the universal Father of all men, then all men are in 
the divine family, and therefore saved. There will 
be no need of preaching repentance and faith, if God 
is the Father of all men. Jesus speaks of God as His 
Father, and as the Father of His disciples, but no- 
where does He speak of God as the Father of all men. 
The New Testament teaches that God loves all men, 
exercises a fatherly care over all men, both just and 
unjust, and desires to be Father of all men, but is 
actually Father of those who believe. All men are 
not, therefore, sons of God, but all men have a 
capacity for son-ship, and can become sons of God 
through faith in Jesus Christ: “‘As many as received 
Him, to them gave He the right to become sons of 
God, even to them that believe on His name,” (Jno. 
1:12); “Ye are all the children of God by faith in 
Christ Jesus,” (Gal. 3:26). Those who are not be- 
lievers have the Devil as their Father; “Ye are of 
your Father the devil,” (John 8:44). The one, and 
only way, to divine son-ship, is through repentance 
and faith. The true evangel will not hesitate to de- 
liver this message to the world. 


THE DOCTRINE OF SIN. 


“The soul that sinneth, it shall die,” (Ezk. 18:4). 

“The wages of sin is death,” (Rom. 6:23). 

The fact of sin faces us on every hand. Sin is 
everywhere and it is the saddest fact of human ex- 
perience. “O wretched man that I am!” is the cry 
of the sinful human heart. Sin is back of all the 
misery, suffering, and sorrow of the race. Sin is the 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM 93 


cause of all the ills that afflict our world today. This 
world would be heaven were it not for sin. Surely 
no one who thinks, sees, and hears, can deny the fact 
of sin. 

What then is sin? It is hard to define. Many 
definitions have been given but not a single one of 
them is entirely satisfactory. Sin has been defined, 
as “selfishness,’ as “rebellion against God,” as “a 
breach of our personal relations with God,” as “lack 
of conformity to God’s moral law,” etc. These defi- 
nitions are all true, as far as they go, but they are 
incomplete and need rounding out. If we are to un- 
derstand the many phases and aspects of sin, we 
must go back to the Bible itself. What does the 
Bible teach about sin? 

First let us consider the Old Testament concep- 
tion of sin. Here we find the thoughts about sin 
running along two lines. 

1. There is the idea of sin as “failure to hit the 
mark,” or “to conform to an objective standard,” as 
expressed in the word hata. The word hata, like the 
corresponding Greek word hamartano, means to 
miss the mark, as a slinger, the way, as a traveler, 
and to find wanting in enumerating. There is the 
idea of a mark not struck and a goal not reached. 
We see sin named for the first time in Genesis 4:7, 
and a form of hata is used. There are many words 
used in the ethical vocabulary of the Old Testament 
to describe sin or evil. We have such terms as 
crookedness, perverseness, apostasy, rebellion, un- 
clean, unrighteous, ungodly, scorner, liar, fool, etc. 


A 


o/ 
¥ 


94 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


2. The other line along which thoughts of sin 
ran, was the idea that sin is “against the person of 
God.” This is, of course, a later development, but 
we see it expressed very clearly in the time of David, 
who cried in anguish of soul, “Against thee, and 
thee only, have J sinned, and done that which is evil 
in thy sight,” (Psa. 51:4). 

The original sin of the race is spoken of, in the 
story of the fall, as disobedience to God. Sin is pic- 
tured to Cain, as a wild beast lying at his door, ready 
to spring upon him at the first opportunity. Sin is 
always ready to seize and prey upon its victims 
when they least suspect it. 

It is interesting to note that the nation became a 
unit at the Exodus, and from that time on to the ex- 
ile, sin was conceived of as not enjoying religious fel- 
lowship with Him. Now, the sin of the individual re- 
flected always on the nation. When the individual 
sinned, the nation sinned. There were two kinds of 
sins committed by those in covenant relation. They 
were sins of ignorance or inadvertency, and high- 
handed sins, such as idolatry, and homage to another 
deity. The priest could make atonement for those 
sins committed within the covenant, but sins com- 
mitted with a high hand, threw the sinner out of 
covenant relations, and back on the righteousness of 
God. God alone, could atone for sins committed 
with a high hand. 

The individual consciousness arose as the nation 
declined, and sin came to be more and more individ- 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM 95 


ual. The prophets developed the individual concep- 
tion of sin as time went on. 
SIN IN THE PROPHETS. 

Amos thinks of God as a supreme, righteous rul- 
er, and sin according to this prophet is unrighteous- 
ness and injustice. Hosea conceives of God as a God 
of unchanging love, and sin, in his writings, is 
alienation of the heart from God. Isaiah speaks of 
God as sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and 
sin, to him, is pride of heart and insensibility to the 
majesty of Jehovah. Sin is an inward state of the 
heart. Jeremiah teaches that sin is an individual 
matter, and that each individual will be held respon- 
sible for his own sins, (Jer. 31:30). Ezekiel ex- 
plodes the old national or family idea of sin, and 
makes it clear that each individual is accountable to 
God for his own sin. The father’s righteousness 
will not save the son, and the father’s iniquity will 
not condemn the son, (Ezek. 14:18). But, “The soul 
that sinneth, it shall die,” (Ezek. 18:4). Sin in the 
prophets is individual, and against the person of 
God, and repentance alone, brings forgiveness. Sin 
in the 51st Psalm is polluting, hereditary, universal, 
and against the person of God. This, in brief, sums 
up the Old Testament view of sin. 

SIN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

1. Sin in the teaching of Jesus. Jesus teaches 
some important things about sin, though He gives us 
no formal] definition, but deals rather with its mani- 
festations. | 


4 


96 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


(1) Sin is a fact. He recognizes sin as a fact, 
and begins His ministry by telling men to turn from 
it. ‘Repent ye,” is His message to a lost and sinful 
generation. 

(2) Sin is universal. All men are sinful, but 
not equally so. Jesus could see good impulses and 
tendencies in all men. All men, in sin, are lost, but 
not hopeless. The worst sinnner has worth to God, 
and the soul is of priceless value. 

(3) Sin has its seat in the heart. It operates 
on the inside and not on the outside of man. The 
things that defile the man are the things that come 
out, (Matt. 15:19). 

(4) Sin is subject to development. It is possi- 
ble to go so far as to commit the unpardonable sin, 
the sin against the Holy Ghost, (Mark 3:28, 29; 
Mattietol oe)! 

(5) Man’s only hope of deliverance from sin is 
through repentance and faith. 

2. Sin in John’s Gospel. 

(1) Here sin is an “enslaving power,” (8:34). 

(2) A perverting principle, (8:21). 

(3) Is rooted in sinful habits, (8:34). 

(4) Sin is a voluntary act, caused by him who 
commits it. 

(5) It is universal. The whole world is aliena- 
ted from God, and in bondage to Satan, (12:31, 46). 

(6) Sin is summed up as unbelief. Unbelief is 
the tap-root sin (Jno. 16:9). The only hope for an 
unbelieving world is—faith in Jesus Christ. 

3. Paul’s view of Sin. 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM a7 


(2) All sinned in Adam. “In Adam all die,” 
(1 Gore 15228). 

(2) Sin is wniversal. ‘All have sinned, and 
come short of the glory of God,’ (Rom. 3:28). Paul 
does not teach total depravity in the sense that all 
men are as bad as they can be. He could see some 
good even in heathens, (Rom. 2:14, 15). But he 
does teach that all men in their faculties and power, 
are affected by sin. 

; (8) Sin is hereditary. That is, all inherit a 

“sinful bias,’ which is propagated through heredity. 
Men belong to a sinful race, and begin life with a 
predisposition to evil. 

(4) The origin and ground of sin, in Paul’s 
teaching, is the Will, not the flesh or sensuous na- 
ture. The flesh is the seat of passions and impulses 
which give occasion to sinful choices and actions, but 
the flesh is never identified with sin, nor described 
as inherently evil. Sin dwells in the flesh but is dis- 
tinct from the flesh. The flesh is not the source of 
sin. Sin is due to a voluntary act of transgression 
(Rom. 5:12), and has its source in the will. The 
body therefore is not essentially sinful. Christ’s 
body was not sinful, and yet, it was flesh. Our bod- 
ies are made to be temples of the Holy Spirit, and 
Paul warns us not to let sin reign in our bodies: 
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, 
.that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof,” (Rom. 
6:12). 

This, in brief, is the Biblical picture and descrip- 
tion of that awful and race-destroying something 


98 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


called sin. Who can read the Biblical description, 
and live in this troubled world, and then, deny the 
fact of sin? The true evangelist is compelled to be- 
lieve that sin is “exceedingly sinful.” 


THE SAVIORHOOD OF CHRIST. 


“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save 
that which was lost,” (Luke 19:10). 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his 
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For 
God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the 
world; but that the world through him might be 
saved.” (Jno. 3:16, LT). 

“Neither is there salvation in any other; for 
there is none other name under heaven given among 
men, whereby we must be saved,’ (Acts 4:12). 

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all ac- 
ceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to 
save sinners; of whom I am chief,” (1 Tim. 1:15). 

The fact of sin, or the entrance of sin into the 
world, necessitated both the sending, and coming, of 
a Savior. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, came not simply 
as a savior, but as a divine Savior. He could not be 
Savior without being God. Neither could He be Sa- 
vior without being man. So He came as both God 
and man—as the God-man. 

The world, from the first, accepted Him as man, 
but not as God. The controversy of the Christian 
centuries has been waged around His divinity. His 
divinity is the storm center at this very hour. A 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM 99 


skeptical world admits that he was a good man—the 
ideal man, but not God. The truth is, He was God, 
or nothing. How could He be a good man—the ideal 
man, and lie? He said, that He was God, that He 
was one with the Father, equal with the Father, 
came out from the Father, and was with the Father 
before the world was. He was God, or the greatest 
deceiver and contradiction of history. 
HOW DO WE KNOW HE WAS GOD? 

1. Hesaid He was. The high priest asked Him 
a direct question, “Art thou the Christ, the Son of 
the Blessed? And Jesus said, J am,’ (Mark 14:62). 
This is about as plain as language can make it. 

2. God the Father said He was. At His bap- 
tism, and on the Mount of Transfiguration, God the 
Father broke the silence of heaven and said, “This 
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” This 
should be sufficient, but additional testimony may be 
added. 

3. Simon Peter believed that Jesus Christ was 
the Son of God. He said, “Thou art the Christ, the 
Son of the living God,’ (Matt. 16:16). 

4, Thomas the doubter came to believe it. His 
testimony is, ‘“My Lord and my God,” (Jno. 20:28). 

5. The centurion who had charge of His execu- 
tion believed it. Listen to his testimony, “Truly this 
was the Son of God,” (Matt. 27:54). 

6. Even the devils add their testimony. “Thou 
Son of the most high God, hast thou come here to 
torment us before our time?” (Matt. 8:29). 


100 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


7. John the apostle who was so close to the 
heart of Jesus, speaks in a most significant manner 
of the divinity of Jesus. He says, ‘In the beginning 
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 
Word (logos) was God. The same was in the begin- 
ning with God. All things were made by him; and 
without him was not anything made that was made,” 
(vohn 1:1-8). 

In the fourteenth verse of this chapter he speaks 
of the incarnation of the Son of God. “And the 
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” 

8. Paul’s testimony. ‘The life which I now live 
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, 
who loved me and gave himself for me,” (Gal. 2:20). 
There was not a shadow of a doubt in Paul’s mind 
about the divinity of his Savior. 

We could add to the above testimony the testi- 
mony of His works, His life, His influence, plus that 
of millions of Christians, living and dead, whose 
lives have been changed by an expertmental contact 
with the divine Son of God. 

The man who doesn’t believe in the divinity of 
Christ has no saving message for the world. He has 
no savior to preach who can lift man above himself. 
The world cannot be saved by culture, morality, good 
works, ordinances, nor by man, nor man-made 
schemes. Only through Christ. “Neither is there 
salvation in any other; for there is none other name 
under heaven given among men, whereby we must 
be saved,” (Acts 4:12). 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM 101 


THE ATONEMENT. 

“But we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus 
Christ, by whom we have now received the atone- 
ment,’ (Rom. 5:11). 

A man’s view of the atonement is always condi- 
tioned by his view of sin. In reality, his view of the 
atonement is commensurate with his view of sin. If 
a man has a light, shallow view of sin, he is certain 
to have a superficial view of the atonement. There- 
fore, it is highly important that the soul-winner 
have correct views of both. It is not the writer’s 
purpose, however, to enter into a full discussion of 
the atonement here, as it would take a book to do 
that, but he does want to give a brief outline of the 
Seriptural teaching on the subject. What does the 
Bible really teach about the atonement? This is our 


question. 
The Scriptural doctrine of the atonement is 


ff wrapped up in four important words—-substitution, 
redemption, propitiation, and reconciliation. All of 
the Scripture passages touching the atonement may 
be grouped around these four words. The word sub- 
stitution furnishes a good starting point. 

1. Substitution. It is impossible to understand 
the New Testament idea of substitution apart from 
the Old Testament sacrificial system. The Old Tes- 
tament sacrifices, rightly offered and understood, in- 
volved the following elements: a consciousness of sin 
on the part of the worshipper, the bringing of a 
victim to atone for the sin, the laying of the hand of 
the offerer upon the victim’s head, the confession of 


102 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


sin by the offerer of the sacrifice, the slaying of the 
beast, the forgiveness of sin, and the acceptance of 
the worshipper. The sim-offering and the scape-goat 
of the great day of atonement symbolized yet more 
distinctly the two elementary ideas of sacrifice, 
namely, sanctification and substitution—plus the 
consequent removal of guilt from the sinner. The 
New Testament assumes and presupposes the Old 
Testament doctrine of sacrifice. The following pas- 
sages will verify the above statement, and give us 
the New Testament idea of substitution: “Even as 
Christ loved you, and gave himself up for us, an of- 
fering and a sacrifice to God for an order of a sweet 
smell,” (Eph. 5:2); “Christ died for our sins ac- 
cording to the Scriptures,” (1 Cor. 15:3) ; “Him who 
knew no sin God made to be sin on our behalf, that 
we might become the righteousness of God in Him,” 
(2 Cor. 5:21); “Who died for us, that whether we 
wake or sleep, we would live together with Him,” (1 
Thess. 5:10) ; “Who gave himself for our sins, that 
He might deliver us out of this present evil world,” 
(Gal. 1:4); “Who was delivered up on account of 
our trespasses,” (Rom. 4:25); “He that spared not 
his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how 
shall he not also with Him freely give us all things,” 
(Rom. 8:32) ; “One died for all, therefore all died,” 
(2 Cor. 5:15); “For to this end Christ died, and 
lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead 
and the living,” (Rom. 14:9). 

Who can read these passages and deny the fact 
of substitution? It is clearly taught in the New Tes- 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM 103 


tament. It is repeatedly affirmed that Christ died 
on our behalf and for the sake of our sins. Such 
statements, couplied with many other passages, cer- 
tainly do teach a real substitution of Christ’s suffer- 
ings and death, in the place of the sinner’s punish- 
ment. God adopted the method, not of substituting 
punishment for punishment, but of substituting suf- 
fering, on the part of Christ, for the punishment, we 
so justly deserved because of sin. Christ was not a 
sinner, but ‘was made sin for us,” treated as a sin- 
ner. As sinners we were helpless, and in bondage, 
to the “sin-death principle’ reigning in the human 
race. We were powerless to break the power of 
death and annul the law of sin and death. Christ, 
therefore, with all the power of the God-head at His 
command, came into the world, took our place, and 
“did both of these things for us.” “He broke the 
power of death and annulled the law of sin and 
death. This is substitution.”—Mullins. (In, The 
Christian Religion In Its Doctrinal Expression, page 
325). 

“‘Paul’s idea certainly is that Christ was so far 
substituted for us that his sufferings and death ac- 
complish in God‘s moral order the end which punish- 
ment would accomplish, namely, the expression of 
God’s holy displeasure against sin,’ (Rom. 3:26). 
(Stevens’ Theology of The New Testament, page 
410). 

This method of substituting Christ’s suffering 
for our punishment is a more complete expression of 
God’s entire nature than punishment would have 


104 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


been. In the humiliation, suffering, and death of 
the Son of God, prompted by the infinite love of the 
Father—the total perfection of God is represented 
and satisfied. ‘For to this end Christ died and lived 
again,’ (Rom. 13:9). Why then should we be 
ashamed of the cross? ‘‘Far be it from me to glory, 
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Gal. 
6:14). | 
2. Redemption. Another element in the atone- 
ment is redemption, and is expressed in apolutrosis 
and kindred terms. Here the figure of purchase is 
employed; “Christ redeemed us from the curse of 
the law,” (Gal. 3:18); ‘““God sent forth his Son.... 
that he might redeem those under the law,” (Gal. 
4:4); “In whom we have our redemption, the for- 
giveness of our sins,” (Col. 1:13); “In whom we 
have our redemption through his blood, the forgive- 
ness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his 
grace,” (Eph. 1:7). 

We may add, to the above, those passages using 
the figure of ransom: “Ye were bought with a 
price,’ (1 Cor. 6:20 and 7:23) ; “Who gave himself 
a ransom for all,” (1 Tim. 2:6) ; ‘Who gave himself 
for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity,” 
(Titus 2:14). 

In the above passages the death of Christ is rep- 
resented as demanded by the law and government of 
God. How did Christ, therefore, redeem or deliver 
us from the demands of the law and satisfy the gov- 
ernment of a holy and just God? He did it by con- 
forming to the demands of the law at every point. 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM = 105 


He conformed to the demands of the moral law by 
the perfect life that He lived. He kept the whole 
moral code to the letter. He met the demands of the 
law of sin and death by paying the death penalty. 
He was not sinful himself but “was made sin for 
us.” He endured the wrath of God, which is, in its 
broadest expression, the death-penalty for sin. But 
wrath with God is not angry passion, but reaction 
against sin. Christ met the demands of the filial 
law by being a perfect Son. He was obedient even 
unto death. He met the demands of the law of love 
by becoming God’s love gift to the world, (Jno. 
3:16). 

Thus, He satisfied the law of God and the govern- 
ment of God at every point. 

38. The next element in the atonement is Pro- 
pitiation, as expressed in hilasterion. “Being justi- 
fied freely by his grace through the redemption that 
is in Christ Jesus; whom God set forth as a propitia- 
tion, through faith, by his blood, to show his right- 
eousness, because of the passing over of the sins 
done aforetime, in the forbearance of God; for the 
showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present 
season, that he might himself be just, and the justi- 
fier of him that hath faith in Jesus,’ (Rom. 2 :24- 
26). He is the propitiation for our sins, (1 John 
232) 

The term propitiation (hilasterion) means, ety- 
mologically, rendering favorable—a means of ren- 
dering favorable. Christ’s death was a means of 
putting God in a more favorable attitude toward sin- 


106 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


ful men, whereby; his love and mercy could fly out 
to them without violating either his holiness, or his 
inherent antagonism to sin. His death did not make 
God love us, as God loved us all the while, but it re- 
moved all the barriers that stood in the way of a 
free exercise of that love. 

It may prove helpful in this connection to sum 
up, in a few brief points, what Christ’s death really 
did to put God in a more favorable position toward 
a sinful race: 

(1) It enabled God’s grace to express itself 
manward, because Christ’s death identified Him with 
sinful man, and made Him one with the race. This 
put God in a position where he could bless the race 
through Christ. 

(2) His death and victorious resurrection put 
an end to the reign of death. He paid the death pen- 
alty for sin, and therefore, exhausted the judgment 
of God against sin. 

(3) His death expressed God’s repudiation and 
condemnation of sin. Thus, it removed the wrath of 
God from men who were hitherto, under the power 
of sin and death—the “‘sin-death principle.” 

(4) Christ’s death satisfied the judgment and 
mercy of God, and revealed to a lost world both his 
severity and his goodness. 

(5) And alas, His death broke the power of Sa- 
tan and set his captives free—to accept ‘God’s plan 
of redemption. 

4. Reconciliation is another important element 
in the atonement of Christ. It is expressed in katal- 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM = 107 


lage, and its cognates. “For if while we were ene- 
‘ mies, we were reconciled to God through the death 
of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be 
saved by his life; and not only so, but we also rejoice 
in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through 
whom we have now received the reconciliation,” 
(Rom. 5:10, 11); “But all things are of God, who 
reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave 
unto us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that 
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto him-. 
self, not reckoning unto them their trespasses and 
having committed unto the word of reconciliation. 
We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, 
as though God were intreating by us; we beseech 
you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God,” (2 
Cor. 5:18-20) ; ‘‘For it was the good pleasure of the 
Father that in him should all the fullness dwell, and 
through him to reconcile all things unto himself, be- 
ing made peace through the blood of his cross; 
through him, I say, whether things upon the earth, 
or things in the heavens. And you, being in time 
past alienated and enemies in your mind and in your 
evil works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of 
his flesh through death, to present you holy and 
without blemish and unreprovable before him,” 
(Col. 2:19-22). 

The term reconciliation, as used here, has in it 
its usual sense of removing enmity and restoring of 
harmony and good will. The death of Christ 
wrought a change in the attitude of both God and 
man. It removed the wrath of God (his holy antag- 


108 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


onism to sin), and satisfied the justice, holiness, and 
love of God. Thus it put God in an attitude toward 
sinful man, whereby, he could save men without do- 
ing violence to his holy nature. Man is now the ob- 
ject of his grace instead of his wrath. The atone- 
ment was, therefore, a divine necessity grounded in 
the very nature of God. God’s nature demanded it, 
and God’s love provided it. 

How does the death of Christ change the attitude 
of man? It enables him to see the real nature and 
effect of sin on the one hand, and the love, goodness, 
and justice of God on the other. When men look to 
the cross and see the real nature of sin and what it 
cost God, in suffering, to provide a way of escape 
from the consequences—they are moved to repent. 
When a man sees what sin is, and what God is, in 
this new revelation of the cross of Christ—he is 
moved to turn from sin and lay hold upon God by a 
living faith. He understands then that, “Without 
faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; 
for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, 
and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after 
him,” (Heb. 11:6). 


THE EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT. 


The atonement of Christ was for all men, but 
only those who believe receive the full benefit of it. 
Christ died for all, but saves “whosoever will,’ come 
to Him by faith, (1 John 2:2; Heb. 2:9; 1 Tim. 2:6) ; 
“For to this end we labor and strive, because we 
have our hope set on the living God, who is the Sa- 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM _ 109 


viour of all men, especially of them that believe,” 
(1 Tim. 4:10) ; “For God so loved the world that he 
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
on him should not perish, but have eternal life,” 
(John 3:16). 

We hear much in our day against the idea of a 
“blood atonement,” or as some modernists would 
say, a “slaughter-house’’ religion. Whether men like 
it or not it is the only way to get rid of sin, escape 
Hell, and win Heaven. ‘Without the shedding of 
blood there is no remission,’ (Heb. 9:22). The 
thing that some modern writers are ashamed of, and 
are repulsed at, Paul gloried in. “God forbid that 
I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and 
I unto the world,” (Gal. 6:14). ‘‘The word of the 
cross” was the substance of his preaching, and “Je- 
sus Christ and him crucified” was his one supreme 
object of knowledge and interest, (1 Cor. 1:18 and 
Zea: 

The true evangelist and effective soul-winner of 
every age will, and must, take the same position and 
deliver the same message to a lost and sinful world. 
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that per- 
ish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the 
power of God,” (1 Cor. 1:18). 


THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN EVANGELISM. 


“And he, when he is come, will convict the world 
in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of Judg- 
ment,” (John 16:8). 


110 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


The Holy Spirit is a person, not a thing. He is 
the third person of the God-head. He is God.. We 
are now living in the dispensation of the Holy Spir- 
it. When Jesus Christ left the world He sent the 
Holy Spirit to take His place and continue His work, 
(John 16:7). The work of the Holy Spirit among 
men was special and definite, previous to Pentecost, 
but since Pentecost His work, with but few excep- 
tions, has been, and is, constant, continuous, and ~ 
abiding. What part does He play in the work of 
evangelism? This is our question here. 

1. He invites or calls men to eternal life. “The 
Spirit and the Bride say come,” (Rev. 22:7). 

2. He convicts men of sin—especially the sin of 
unbelief, (Jno. 16:8, 9). He also shows them the dif- 
ference between false and true righteousness, and 
convinces them of the justice of Christ’s righteous 
judgment upon a sinful and unbelieving world. 

3. He regenerates the sinful heart and makes us 
new creatures through the new birth, (Jno. 3:5). 

4. He puts the divine seal on our salvation, 
(Eph. 4:30). 

5. He gives us assurance that we are saved and 
are children of ‘God, (Rom. 8:16). 

6. He draws us to the Father, (Jno. 6:44). 

7. He sheds abroad in our hearts the love of 
God, (Rom. 5:5). 

8. He strengthens the “inner man,’ (Eph. 
3:16). 

9. He gives us daily victories over the flesh and 
the devil, (Rom. 8:13). 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM 111 


10. He is the agent of God in our Justtfication, 
(1 Cor. 6:11). 

11. He is also God’s agent in our Sanctification, 
(2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2). 

12. Hereveals Christ more perfectly to the soul- 
winner, (Jno. 16:14). 

18. He teaches and guides Christ’s followers in- 
to truth—especially the truth about Christ himself, 
(Jno. 14:26). The soul-winner must know the truth 
as it is in Christ Jesus. 

14. He comforts and consoles the workers when 
they are sad and discouraged, (Jno. 14:16:18). 

15. He helps the winner to pray effectively, 
(Rom. 8:26). 

16. He endues with power for service, (Acts 
1:8; Eph. 6:18; Matt. 28:18-26; Zech. 4:6; Luke 
24.9). 

We can readily see that evangelism would be im- 
possible without the aid and co-operation of the 
Holy Spirit. He is indispensable both to the sin- 
ner, and the winner. 


REPENTANCE. 

“Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish,” 
(Luke 13:3). 

‘“‘“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; 
but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, 
(Acts 17:30). Q | 

“For Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salva- 
tion,’ (2 Cor. 7:10). 

The Scriptural teaching concerning repentance 


112 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


is expressed in two Greek words found in the New 
Testament, namely, metamelomai and metanoia. 

Metamelomat expresses the element of feeling, or 
the emotional element in repentance. It has in it the 
idea of regret, or sorrow for sin committed against 
goodness and justice. Sin thus viewed is hateful to 
God and hateful in itself, (Ps. 51:1, 2, 10, 14). This 
regret, however, is not always of a godly sort. There 
may be regret, remorse, and even despair, and yet 
no genuine repentance, (Matt. 57:3; Luke 18:23; 
2 Cor. 7:9, 10). 

Metanoia means fundamentally a change of mind, 
but in its practical application it involves a change 
of will also, (Mark 1:4, 14; Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; 
Rom. 2:4). 

Psychologically men ee there are three ele- 
ments in repentance—the intellectual element, the 
emotional element, and the volitional element. In 
plain every day English this simply means that 
Scriptural repentance involves three things—a 
change of mind, a change of feeling, and a change 
of purpose. 

The soul-winner should not only understand, but 
emphasize the gospel of repentance for without re- 
pentance there is no remission of sins. It is repent, 
or perish. All of the great soul-winners of history, 
who have moved this world for God, have empha- 
sized in no uncertain tones the doctrine of repen- 
tance. The prophets preached repentance. John 
the Baptist preached repentance. Jesus and those 
whom He sent out preached repentance. Simon 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM 113 


Peter, the evangelist of Pentecost who won three 
thousand to Christ in one day, preached repentance. 
Paul made Mars Hill ring with his gospel of repen- 
tance. Wesley, Whitefield, Moody, Finney, Sam 
Jones, Torrey, Chapman, and Sunday, with mighty 
power and one accord, have told a lost world, ‘“Ex- 
cept ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” There 
can be no true and lasting evangelism apart from 
the repentance message. 
FAITH 

“By grace ye have been saved through fasth; and 
that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” 
(Eph. 2:8). 

“Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace,”’ (Luke 
7:50). 

~ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his 
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him 
should not perish, but have eternal life,” (Jno. 3:16). 

“To him bear all the prophets witness, that 
through his name every one that believeth on him 
shall receive remission of sins,” (Acts 10:48). 

“And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned 
unto him for righteousness,” (Rom. 4:38). 

Faith has always been the universal condition of 
salvation. The people of olden times looked forward 
by faith, through sacrifices and offerings, to Christ, 
while we look back to the cross and wp to the risen 
Christ, who is now at the right hand of God. The 
plan of salvation has always been one, and the same 
—by faith. All who have been saved have been 
saved by this one plan. ‘By grace ye have been 


114 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it 
is the gift of God,” (Eph. 2:8). It is grace on God’s 
part and faith on man’s part. 

What then is fatth? It is easy to understand 
but a bit hard to define. We can best understand 
faith by looking at its constituent elements. 

1. There is first an historical or intellectual 
element. This element or degree of faith recognizes 
the truth of God’s revelation, the justice of punish- 
ment for sin, the plan of salvation, and believes that 
Christ is the Son of God and the only one who can 
save from sin. Now, to believe in and understand 
all the historical facts, connected with God’s plan 
of salvation is an element or degree of faith that is 
absolutely necessary but is not sufficient. To this 
extent and in this sense the “devil’s believe and 
shudder,” (James 2:19). To stop here is to be lost. 

2. The next element is the emotional element. 
Here the sinner under conviction gives assent to the 
Gospel plan of salvation as adequate and necessary 
to satisfy the needs of the soul. This element is im- 
portant and necessary but it doesn’t go far enough. 
The stony ground hearers went this far and yet they 
were not saved, (Matt. 13:20, 21). They were 
simply transient or temporary bélievers. The faith 
that saves, abides, and hangs on to Christ and His 
word, (Jno. 8:30, 31). This brings us to the next 
and most important element of faith. 

38. The volitional element. Here faith knows, 
feels, and acts. The will lays hold on Christ or exer- 
cises a personal trust in Christ as the only Saviour 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM 115 


from sin. This is saving faith., Saving faith then, 
is personal trust in, and mystic union with Christ. 
It comprehends and includes all the elements. This 
is the faith that unites us to God, through Christ, 
and manifests itself in good works. True faith is 
always a working faith. It is “faith working 
through love,” (Gal. 5:6). Faith that doesn’t work 
is an unreal or “dead” faith, (James 2:17). There 
is no conflict between Paul and James on the faith 
question when the two are rightly understood. 


THE RELATION OF FAITH AND WORKS 


| The two go together. They are handmaids. 
- However, it is important to remember that works 
have nothing to do with salvation. We are saved 
by faith, and not of works, (Eph. 2:8, 9). We are 
rewarded for our works, and not for our faith; “For 
the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father 
with his angels; and then he shall reward every man 
according to his works,’ (Matt. 17:27). “If any 
man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he 
shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be 
burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be 
saved; yet so as by fire,” (Cor. 3:14, 15). ‘And 
whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these 
little ones a cup of cold water in the name of a dis- 
ciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose 
his reward, (Matt. 10:42). 

The above passages and many others that might 
be cited certainly do make it plain that we are saved 
by faith, and rewarded according to our works. 


116 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


The soul-winner needs to get, and keep, this matter 
clear in mind. Confusion here is leading people to 
destruction every day. 


THE RELATION OF FAITH AND REPENTANCE 


There has been much confusion and foolish de- 
bating just here. Some have argued that repentance 
comes first, and others, just as sincere, have put 
faith first in Christian experience. The truth is 
they are stmultaneous experiences. They occur at 
the same time and it is impossible to have one with- 
out the other. It is altogether improper to inject 
the time element between the two.. In reality they 
are the negative and positive aspects of the same act 
or experience. There can be no saving faith without 
genuine repentance and there can be no genuine 
repentance without saving faith. When one is 
mentioned in the Scriptures the other is always > 
implied. To be sure, there is a sort of historical 
faith that does come before repentance: ‘‘He that 
cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He 
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him,” 
(Heb. 11:6). This is merely the first, or intellectual 
element in faith, as I have already shown in this 
discussion. The devils believe to this extent and 
even shudder, (James 2:19), but they are not saved. 
This element of faith is important and necessary, 
but it is not sufficient. It doesn’t go far enough. 

Many passages may be quoted that put repen- 
tance first: “Repent ye and believe the gospel,” 
(Mark 1:15); “Repentance toward God, and faith 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM © 117 


toward our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Acts 21:21) ; “And 
ye, when ye saw it, did not even repent yourselves 
afterward, that ye might believe the Scriptures.” Re- 
pentance is usually mentioned first. But this doesn’t 
prove that repentance is separate and distinct from 
saving faith and that there is an interval of time 
between the two. The question of logical sequence 
is not the important thing. To get sinners to repent 
and believe at once, and at the same time was the 
thing urged and sought by Jesus and the inspired 
writers. The two, in their minds, were simultaneous 
aspects of the same great experience. So Jesus says 
“repent ye and believe the gospel,” and do both now, 
(Mark 1:15). 

There are many passages that emphasize repen- 
tance, and do not mention faith. But faith is always 
implied: (Matt. 3:2); (Mark 6:12); (Luke 13:8) ; 
(Acts 3:19); (Acts 17:30) ; (Acts 26:20); (2 Cor. 
12521)3 \ (Revs 2:22) 3)'( Mark) 2:17) ¢Romir 234); 
(2 Peter 3:9). 

There are also scores of passages that emphasize 
faith, and do not mention repentance. In all such 
cases, where the reference is to salvation, repentance 
is implied or understood: (Eph. 2:8) ; (Luke 7:50) ; 
(Jno. 3:16); (Acts 10:43); (Acts 17:4);. (Mark 
16:16) ;) (Luke '8:12);) (John ’ 1:7) 3 (John''3:8); 
(John 6:47); Acts 4:4); (Rom. 9:33); (1 Peter 
2:6). 

After a thorough consideration of all the facts we 
are forced to the conclusion that all true preaching 
of repentance is implicity a preaching of faith, 


118 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


(Matt. 3:1-12); (Acts 19:4), and that repentance 
toward God involves faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 
20:21) (Luke 15:10, :24): (Gal; 3:7);° Ciake 
19:8, 9). 

Wherever there is saving faith there is always 
genuine repentance, and wherever there is genuine 
repentance there is always saving faith. The two 
go together and cannot be divorced. Therefore, let 
us go as Jesus did, and tell a lost world to “repent 
and believe the gospel.” 

REGENERATION 

“Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, 
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God,” (Jno.3:5). 

Regeneration is an important doctrine and is 
taught and emphasized throughout the New Testa- | 
ment. The third chapter of John has been aptly 
called the “classic passage’ on regeneration, but 
there are scores of others. The words which express 
the doctrine are as follows: 

1. Gennao, and its kindred forms. Gennao 
means ‘“‘to beget’ and is found in the following 
passages, (John 1:13; 3:4, 5); (Cor. 4:15); (Phile- 
mon) 1:10) ; (John) 2:29; 8:97 4:7: 5:1, 4,°18) 01 
Peter 1:23); (Titus 3:4). | 

2. Apeknesen is another term used. It means 
to “bring forth” or “bear young,’ (James 1:18). 

3. Ktisis and Ktizo are also used in reference 
to the doctrine of regeneration, and mean fundamen- 
tally “creation” and “create,” (Gal. 6:15); (2 Cor. 
5:17); (Eph. 2:10, 15; 4:24). 

4, Sunezoopoiesen is another important word 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM 119 


in this connection, and means “quickened’’—quicken- 
ed together with Christ, (Col. 2:18); (Eph. 2:5). 

Many other passages could be given that refer 
directly or indirectly to the doctrine of regeneration 
but the ones given will be sufficient for our purpose 
here. 

REGENERATION DEFINED 

Regeneration may be defined as an act of God 
whereby, through the operation of the Holy Spirit 
and the use of the truth, the moral disposition of the 
soul is changed and made holy, and in conformity 
to the image of Christ. 

It is hard to frame a definition that would be 
entirely satisfactory at all points, but the above is an 
effort to cover the main points involved. 

Regeneration, or what we call the new birth, is 
simply the divine side of that change wrought in the 
human heart or nature, which we call, from the 
human side, conversion. Regeneration is God 
turning the soul to himself, while conversion is the 
soul turning to God. Regeneration is 'God’s side of 
the conversion process. It follows logically repen- 
tance and faith, but in reality it occurs simulta- 
neously. The sinner doesn’t have to worry about 
regeneration. God will take care of that. It is his 
business to repent and believe, and leave the work 
of regeneration in God’s hands where it belongs. 

Regeneration does not save, Christ does the 
saving, (Luke 19:10); (Acts 4:12); (1 Tim. 1:16). 
What does it do then? It changes the nature and 
the will and makes the saved soul fit and willing to 


. oe” 
aan” 


120 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


serve God. It gives man a pure heart, and a holy 
and obedient disposition. 
“Ye must be born again,” (Jno. 3:7). 


JUSTIFICATION 


“Therefore being justified by faith, we have 
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 
(Rom. 5:1). 

The above passage furnishes a good basis for 
the doctrine of justification, but many others may 
be given, (Rom. 5:16; 4:25; 5:18); (Acts 13:39) ; 
(1 Cor. 4:4; 6:11) ; (Gal. 2:16) ; (Titus 3:7). 

The doctrine of justification is couched in legal 
terms. God is thought of as a judge on the bench, 
who acquits the believers from the penalty of the law 
and declares him righteous or in a state of accep- 
tance with God, because of what Christ has done in 
His saving work. 

To justify means to declare righteous, to acquit, 
to pronounce a sentence of acceptance. Righteous- 
ness in this connection means ‘‘a state of acceptance 
with God” on the basis of faith. Faith here means 
personal trust or repose of the’ soul in Christ as 
Saviour. It is that attitude on man’s part that cor- 
responds to love and grace on God’s part. Jesus 
Christ of course is the special object of faith. To 
be justified by faith then, is to obtain God’s gift of 
righteousness, and “to enter into a state of accep- 
tance with God, through living union with Christ.” 
This is what justification means to the individual. 

Justification defined is, ‘A judical act of God, 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM 121 


whereby He frees the sinner from condemnation and 
restores him to divine favor.” 

Justification has also been defined as, “‘A judicial 
act of God by which, on account of Christ, to whom 
the sinner is united by faith, he declares that sinner 
to be no longer exposed to the penalty of the law, 
but to be restored to his favor.” 


POINTS TO BEAR IN MIND 


1. Justification is a judicial act of God. God is 
the author of justification. “It is God that justi- 
fieth,” (Rom. 8:38). 

2. It is composed of two elements—forgiveness 
and restoration. Sins are remitted and the sinner 
is restored to divine favor, (Rom. 5:1, 2). 

3. Justification is on the basis of what Christ 
did for the sinner, (Rom. 3:23-26; 5:9); (Eph. 2: 
16). It is not based on anything man has done or 
can do. 

4, Justification is made available to the sinner 
through faith. It is therefore, on the condition of 
faith, (Rom. 4:3, 5). “Being justified by faith, we 
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” 
(Rom. 5:1). 

5. Justification takes place at the beginning of 
the Christian life, when the sinner exercises faith 
in Christ as Saviour, and is never repeated. 


ADOPTION 


Adoption is a legal term borrowed by Paul from 
Roman law. According to Roman law, a son could 
be adopted into a Roman family, and when thus 


122 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


adopted, he had all the rights and privileges of a 
natural or true son. Paul borrows this idea to ex- 
press a beautiful family relation in the Christian 
religion. 

Adoption is simply God’s way of receiving those, 
who believe in Jesus Christ, into his family. We are 
adopted into God’s family when we believe, and 
because we believe, (Gal. 4:5, 6); (Rom. 8:15). 
Adoption gives us all of the privileges of the family 
of God and a share in the divine inheritance. We 
are therefore, heirs of God and joint-heirs with 
Christ,” (Rom. 8:17). 

SANCTIFICATION 

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is 
truth tb 17)% 

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly ; 
and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body 
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ,” (1 Thess. 5:23). 

“Being sanctified by the Holy Ghost,” (15:16). 

Sanctification properly, has no place in this dis- 
cussion, as it is not directly related to evangelism. 
However, the writer has thought best to put it in 
here in view of the fact that there are so many un- 
scriptural views concerning it. In this day of wild 
holy-rollerism and other isms which are teaching 
sinless perfection and absolute holiness, it is highly 
important that the Christian worker have sane views 
on the subject of sanctification. 

What do the Scriptures really teach about Sanc- 
tification ¢ 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM = 123 


1. There is a twofold meaning to sanctification 
as it is taught in the Bible. The first and funda- 
mental meaning is expressed in the Hebrew word 
quadesh, and the Greek word hagiazo. They both 
mean—to separate, to set apart, or to dedicate to the 
service of God. 

In the Old Testament times priests, vessels of 
the temple, the temple itself, and even Israel the 
nation were sanctified or set apart for the service 
of God. Persons and things were both sanctified or 
set apart for God’s service. This doesn’t mean that 
Israel was a perfect nation, a nation without sin, as 
the history of the people clearly shows that this was 
never true. The people were holy, not because they 
were sinless, but because they were sanctified or set 
apart to the service of a holy God. To be sure, God’s 
ideal for his people was inward and personal holi- 
ness, but even the best of the nation failed to realize 
this ideal fully. The nation throughout all of its 
history never produced a single man who reached 
the stage of sinless perfection. Yet, many of them 
are spoken of as being sanctified, and the nation 
was sanctified—not sinless but sanctified. 

So we see that sanctification does not and cannot 
mean sinless perfection, as such a state is impossible 
of attainment in this life. 

It should be said however, that as time passed 
the Old Testament prophets emphasized more and 
more the importance of personal and inward holi- 
ness. They demanded, in the name of a holy God, 
not simply a holy temple, but a holy priesthood, a 


124 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


priesthood clean in character and life. They also 
appealed to the people, “To do justly and have mercy 
and walk humbly before God,’ Micah 6:6, 7, 8). 
Other important passages are (Isa. 1:10-19); (2 
Chron. 29:34); (Num. 20:18); (1 Sam. 2:9). 

2. When we turn to the New Testament we find 
that sanctification means dedication or setting apart 
to the service of God, and also growth in inward and 
personal holiness. Sanctification is both a dedica- 
tion and a process. The initial act is a dedication or 
setting apart to the service of God, and the process 
is a “growth in grace and in knowledge of the Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 

Jesus said, “Ye therefore shall be perfect as your 
heavenly Father is perfect,” (Matt. 5:48). The dis- 
ciples were on the road to perfection in this life. We 
should not be afraid of perfection however, as it is 
the ideal for the Christian life. It is the goal toward 
which we should strive daily. “Let us go on unto 
perfection,” is the exhortation of the New Testa- 
ment, (Heb. 6:1). In Hebrews, chapter 11, 12, and 
18, are found many exhortations setting forth sanc- 
tification as a process of purification and growth. 
This twofold meaning is also expressed in 1 Peter 
DelLh. 22: 

The apostle John has been thought by some to 
teach sinless perfection but such a conclusion is im- 
possible when all the facts are considered. John 
does say, in 1 John 3:6, “Whosoever abideth in him 
sinneth not; whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, 
neither known him.” Healsosays, “Whosoever is 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM = 125 


born of God doth not commit sin: for his seed re- 
maineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is 
born of God,” (1 John 3:9). 

John here is simply teaching that the Christian 
does not sin in principle, and does not make sin the 
habit of his life. With divine seed in him he does 
not naturally bring forth a sinful crop. In principle, 
purpose, and habit the Christian is devoted to right- 
eousness, and tdeally he doesn’t sin—but in reality 
he does sin. So John says, “If we say that we have 
no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in 
us,” (1 Jno. 1:8). But if we do sin John says, ‘“‘we 
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
righteous,” (1 Jno. 2:1). There is therefore, no 
conflict between John and the other New Testament 
writers when his teachings are rightly understood. 

Paul, throughout his writings, conceives of sanc- 
tification as beginning with the “new man” of con- 
version, and continuing as a gradual growth until 
this ‘‘new man becomes a “full grown man, unto the 
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ,” 
(Eph. 4:13). Paul never thought of himself as 
sinless. He said of himself, “For I know that in me 
(that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing: for 
to will is present with me; but how to perform that 
which is good I find not. For the good that I would, 
I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do 
it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law 
that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 
For I delight in the law of God after the inward 


126 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


man: but I see another law in my members, warring 
against the law of my mind, and bringing me into 
captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me 
from the body of this death? I thank God through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I 
myself serve the law of God; but with the fiesh the 
law of sin,’ (Rom. 7:18-25). After Paul had been 
preaching a dozen years he said, “not that I have 
already obtained, or am already made perfect: but 
I press on,’ (Phil. 3:12). 

To Paul the Christian life was a race, a battle, a 
struggle, and perfection came, not suddenly, but at 
the end of the way, as a result of a life of struggle 
and effort. The devil and sin were to be overcome 
through a life-long conflict. The victory would 
finally be won through Christ. This, in substance, is 
the teaching of the world’s greatest Christian and 
the greatest interpreter of Christianity, and it is, 
also in harmony with the entire New Testament. 

Sanctification therefore, according to the mean- 
ing of the original words, and New Testament usage, 
is, in its initial act which takes place at regeneration, 
a setting apart of the new born soul to the service 
of a holy God, plus a continous and life-long growth 
in inward and personal holiness, (2 Cor. 7:1); (Gal. 
5:17); (Eph. 4:17-24); (Col. 3:5-10) ; 1 Thess. 5: 
ao) 3¢ (Rom. 6212,513) sel Cor. 6:20) sChphak: 
17-19). 

In sanctification God, through Christ, is the au- 
thor (Jno. 17:17) ; (Heb. 13:21) ; (Eph. 5:26) ; (Ti- 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM = 127 


tus 2:14), the Holy Spirit is the agent, (1 Cor. 6: 
11); (2 Cor. 3:18) ; (2 Thess. 2:18); (1 Peter 1:2), 
and the truth of the gospel is the means or instru- 
mentality, (John 17:17). 

THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 


“Then shall the dust return to the earth as it 
was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave 
it,” (Eccl. 12:7). 

“Lord Jesus receive my spirit,” (Acts 7:59). 

What becomes of the body and soul between 
death and the resurrection? This is a timely and a 
most important question. The soul-winner must 
face this question continually, and he should be pre- 
pared to answer it without hesitation. What do the 
Scriptures teach about this important matter? 


IN REGARD TO THE RIGHTEOUS DEAD. 


1. The body returns to dust and the spirit to the 
God who gave it, (Eccl. 12:7) ; (Acts 7:59). 

2. The disembodied spirit of the believer is 
with Christ, (Luke 23:43); (Acts 7:59); (Phil. 1: 
Bon 

3. The place of abode is called paradise, (Luke 
23:43) ; (2 Cor. 12:4); (Rev. 2:7). The Scriptures 
teach us that, “Christ was received up into heaven, 
and sat down at the right hand of God, (Mark 16: 
19); (Luke 24:51); (Acts 1:22); (Acts 2:33, 34; 
7:55, 56); (Heb... 10:12) 3 (Eph. 1:20) ; (1) Peter 
3:22). According to the Scriptures Christ is to re- 
main at the right hand of God “until the times of the 
restoration of all things,” (Acts 3:21). 


128 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


Paul, in 2 Cor. 12:1-4 locates paradise. He 
says that he was, “‘caught up even to the third heav- 
en,” and “caught up into paradise.” This passage 
locates paradise in the heavens. This passage, taken 
in connection with Rev. 2:7; 22:2 and 21:10-27, 
show conclusively that paradise is the abode of the 
saints, with Christ, who is in the heavens at the 
right hand of God. 

4. At death the soul of the believer goes at once 
into the presence of Christ, (Luke 16:22); (Luke 
23:43). Here paradise and Abraham’s bosom are 
identical. Paradise is the inclusive term as Abra- 
ham certainly was in paradise. Paul also teaches 
that the soul is ushered directly into the presence of 
Christ at death, (Phil. 1:23). 

Soul-sleeping and purgatory are man-made doc- 
trines and are foreign to the plain teaching of the : 
Scriptures. 

5. The intermediate state is a state of happi- 
ness, blessedness, and comfort, (Rev. 14:13) ; (Rom. 
8:38) 3 (Phil. 1:23) 3. Clake’ 16:25) )3(2 Timi 46-33 
(2 Cor. 5:1-8). 

6. The intermediate state is not the fimal or 
ideal state of believers. The final, and ideal or per- 
fect state comes after the resurrection of the body, 
(2 Cor. 5:3,)4).3  CPhil.) 3211))00 ((Matt.13)340-423):5 
(1 Cor. 15:44-54). 

THE WICKED DEAD. 

1. The body returns to dust, (Eccl. 12:7); 
(Luke 16:22). 

2. The wicked soul goes directly to Hades, 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM = 129 


(Luke 16:23) ; (2 Peter 2:9). Hades is God’s tem- 
porary Hell. Here the wicked are kept and punished 
until the final judgment, and then they receive public 
condemnation and are cast into Gehena, the final 
and eternal Hell, to suffer forever and forever, 
(Rev. 20:14). 

The idea of a second chance for the wicked is not 
taught in the Scriptures, (Luke 16:24-31); (Rev. 
20:15). 

3. Hades is pictured as a place,— 

(1) Of torment, (Luke 16:24, 25). 

(2) Of flame, (Luke 16:24). 

(8) A place cut off from all good by an impas- 
sible gulf, (Luke 16:26). 

(4) <A place where one is conscious of the past 
as well as the present, (Luke 16:25, 28, 30). Those 
in Hades are also conscious of their whole personalt- 
ty: 

(5) <A place where memory never dies, (Luke 
16:25). 

(6) A place from which there is no relief, and 
no escape, (Luke 16:24, 26); (1 Peter 2:9). Those 
in Hades must remain there until the final judg- 
ment, and then they will appear before the judgment 
throne where they wil! receive public condemnation, 
(Rev. 20:13); (Matt. 25:41), and then be cast in 
Gehena the final Hell to receive the full degree of 
their punishment, which in all cases is everlasting, 
regardless of the degree, (Rev. 20:14) ; capil 25: 
46); (1 Peter 2:9). 


130 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


THE FINAL JUDGMENT. 


“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after 
this the judgment,” (Heb. 9:27). 

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, 
and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit up- 
on the throne of his glory: And before him shall be 
gathered all the nations: and he shall separate them 
one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep 
from the goats,’ (Matt. 25:31, 32). 

We may add to the above passages the following, 
(Acts 17:31); (Rom. 2:16); (2 Cor. 5:10); (Rev. 
20:12); (John 5:22-27); (Luke 22:28-30); (Matt. 
19:28); (Rev. 3:21); (2 Peter 2:4-9). 

The above passages, plus many others that could 
be given, teach the following main facts about the 
final gudgmeint. 

1. God will judge, through Christ, (Acts 17: 
31); (Matt. 25:31-46) ; (Rom. 2:16) ; (2 Cor. 5:10). 

2. The judgment will be wniversal. All men 
everywhere are to be judged—‘“small and great,” 
(Rev. 20:12) ; (Acts 17:31) ; (1 Peter 2:4-9) ; (Jude 
6); (Rom. 14:12). Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2:4 seem to 
indicate that even the evil angels are to be judged. 


THE PURPOSE OF THE JUDGMENT. 

1. The purpose of the judgment is to reward 
the righteous according to their work, (2 Cor. 5:10) ; 
thom. 2:2,.6 314212) 

2. To condemn the wicked and to make known 
to them the full measure of their punishment, (Matt. 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM 131 


25:41; 12:36) ; (Rom. 2:5, 6); (Luke 12:2); (Heb. 
2:2); (Mark 12:4). 

3. To finally and eternally, separate the wicked 
from the righteous, (Matt. 25:32, 33); (Matt. 13: 
41); (Rev. 20:14). 

Absolute and impartial justice makes the judg- 
ment a moral and spiritual necessity. The moral 
order demands it, history demands it, justice de- 
mands it, and eternity demands it. 


THE FINAL STATE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 


“Then shall the king say unto them on his right 
hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of 
the world, (Matt. 25:34). 

“Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,” (Matt. 
25:21). 

“Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun 
in the kingdom of their Father,” (Matt. 13:43). 

“Ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth 
not away,” (1 Peter 5:4). 

“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the 
tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of 
God,” (Rev. 2:7). , 

“He that overcometh shall not be hurt by the sec- 
ond death,” (Rev. 2:11). 

“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it 
were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare 
a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for 
you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; 


132 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


that where I am, there ye may be also,” (John 
12°2)'3)\ 
HEAVEN. 


Heaven is the final and eternal abode of the 
righteous. Heaven is pictured to us in beautiful and 
glowing terms. 

1. It is pictured to us as a beautiful and pre- 
pared ‘“‘place,’ (Jno. 14:3). 

2. Asa “better country,” (Heb. 11:16). 

3. A place of “many mansions,’ (Jno. 14:2). 

4. The “Jerusalem that is above,’ (Gal. 4:26), 
the “new Jerusalem,” (Rev. 3:12), and “the holy 
city Jerusalem,” (Rev. 21:10). 

5. It is also pictured as “paradise,’ (Luke 23: 
43): (2 Cor. 12:4) ; (Rev. 2:7; 21°710-27). 

The following passages may be added to the 
above: (Jno. 3:13; 6:38); (Matt. 5:12, 45; 6:20); 
(Luke (62203) Leds  2ecao)) A Rom, ole Ls ec bor 
L647 )9° (2 Com (bP \eicehinh, 2 rlOs sei nie 
3220) 3°) CL) Thess.) 2:10 4316) +") (2 Thess, 127). 
(Heb. 9:24); (1 Peter 1:3-22). 

The above passages certainly do teach, beyond all 
question, that heaven is an ideal place, and worthy 
of our highest aspirations. To study heaven with all 
of its grandeur, beauty, and idealism, is to long to 
spend eternity there. The man who misses heaven 
misses all that is really worth striving for in this 
life. ‘For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain 
the whole world, and lose his own soul,” (Mark 
8:36). 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM 133 


THE CONDITION OF THOSE IN HEAVEN. 

1. They are free from toil, pain, sin, tempta- 
tion, and all of the trials and sorrows of this life, 
(Rev. 7216, 17)’. 

2. Death and tears “shall 1 Me no more.” “God 
himself shall be with them, and be their God: and 
he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and 
death shall be no more; neither shall there be 
mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more,” (Rev. 
21:3, 4). 

3. Those in heaven will enjoy an ideal society. 
“And there shall in no wise enter into it anything 
that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomina- 
tion, or maketh a lie: but they which are written 
in the lambs book of life,” (Rev. 21:27). 

Heaven will be free from all satanic and evil in- 
fluences. Universal good will have full sway. 
Righteousness will be the order of an eternal day. 
The society of heaven will be made up of God, Christ, 
the holy angels, and the redeemed of all the ages. 

4. Those in heaven are to reign with Christ for- 
ever, (Rev. 3:21); (2 Tim. 2:12). They are also 
spoken of as being with Christ, (1 Thess. 4:17); as 
enjoying his glory, (Jude 24) ; (Jno. 17:24) ; as be- 
ing conformed to the body of Christ, (Phil. 3:21) ; 
as sharing the riches of his grace, (Eph. 2:7), and 
as entering in the joy of their Lord, (Matt. 25:21, 
23). 

5. They enjoy ideal blessedness, (Matt. 25:34) ; 
perfect knowledge, (1 Cor. 18:12); holiness,. (1 
Thess. 3:13 and Rev. 22:27); glory, (Rom. 8:18; 2 


134 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


Cor. 4:17; 2 Tim. 2:10; 1 Peter 5:4); life, (Mark 
8:35; John 5:29; Rom. 8:18); the crown of life, 
(James 1:12), and eternal life, (Matt. 19:29; Jno. 
Brera 1 ROMY etre 

6. Those in heaven are to rest from all painful 
toil (Rev. 14:3), but they will not be inactive. They 
are going to serve God, sing, pray, etc., (Rev. 7:15; 
Be L442 Sel bs. 29 3b 6), 

7. Those in heaven are to grow intellectually 
and spiritually. Growth is demanded if we are to 
“be filled unto all the fulness of God,” (Eph. 3:14). 
The very standard of heaven also demands growth, 
(Pphud 21819). ) Cor: 18212). 

8. The reward of heaven is “according to our 
works” here. “For the Son of man shall come in the 
glory of his Father with his angels; and then he 
shall reward every man according to his works, 
Matt. 16:27) ; (2 Tim. 4:14) ; (1 Cor. 3:8). The re- 
ward of heaven is commensurate with the fidelity 
and industry of the present life. The degree of re- 
ward is determined by our own efforts, (1 Cor. 3:14, 
15); (Luke 19:12- 27); (Matt. 25:14-30); (Matt. 
20 :1-16))3 (Revi 227, 11 17 26 andis:5) 12021). 

Human language and human symbols have done 
their best, and have almost been exhausted in pic- 
turing to us the beauty, grandeur, blessedness, and 
glory of heaven. And after the utmost has been 
done in the realm of description, our conception of 
heaven and all it means to the soul, is still very mea- 
ger and incomplete. We can never understand 
heaven fully on this side, for ‘““Eye hath not seen, nor 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM 135 


ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of 
raan, the things which God hath prepared for them 
that love him,” (1 Cor. 2:9). 


THE FINAL STATE OF THE WICKED. 


“Depart from me, ye cursed, into eternal fire, 
which is prepared for the devil and his angels... 
and these shall go away into eternal punishment,” 
(Matt. 25:41, 46) ; (compare Luke 13:27). 

The place where the wicked are to be finally and 
eternally punished is Hell—Gehena, (Matt. 5:22, 29, 
30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33); (Mark 9:43, 45, 47): 
(Luke 12:5); (James 3:6). Gehena is used by 
Christ himself at least eleven times. 

Gehena is pictured to us in the New Testament 
as— 

1. A place of punishment, (Mark 16:16); (Jno 
5:29); (2 Thess. 1:8, 9); (2 Peter 2:9). 

2. A place of pain, (Matt. 18:42, 56; 18:8, 9); 
(Mark 9 :48-48) ; (2 Thess. 1:8) ; (2 Peter 3:7). 

3. A place of fire and brimstone, (Rev. 14:10; 
19:20; 20:10; 21:8); (Mark 9:44, 48). Fire and 
brimstone, unquenchable fire, eternal fire, etc., are 
the terms used to express the intensity of the suffer- 
ing in hell. 

4, A place deprived of all good, (Matt. 13:49; 
25:30) ; (Luke 13:28) ; (1 Cor. 6:9) ; (Jude 18). 

The following is a picture of the society of Hell: 
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abomina- 
ble, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcer- 
ers, and idolaters, and all liars, shal] have their part 


136 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: 
which is the second death,” (Rev. 21:8). 

5. It is a place where suffering never ends. It 
is eternal, (Matt. 25:41); (Mark 9:48); (Rom. 
2:5); (Luke 3:17); (Jude 18); (Rev. 14:11; 19:3; 
20:10). 

The punishment of the wicked begins at death, 
in Hades (Luke 16:28), and continues there until the 
final judgment (2 Peter 2:9), and then those in 
Hades in company with all the wicked are cast into. 
Hell (Gehena) where suffering never ends, (Rev. 
20:13, 14). The suffering in Hades is without the 
body, but in Hell the wicked have both soul and body. 
Lhe soul and body are reunited at the general resur- 
rection. These resurrection bodies of the unjust 
must suffer along with the soul. The suffering in 
Hell, therefore, will be some sort of bodily torture, 
plus mental anguish, and spiritual agony. The 
body must suffer along with the mind and soul. 
Mental anguish always affects the body, and the 
higher the organism the more keenly alive it is to 
suffering and pain. We have every reason to believe 
that the resurrection body will be more sensitive to 
suffering than the present body as it will be more 
perfect and more highly organized in every respect. 
It will also be more sensitive to surroundings, and 
the surroundings of Hell will be everything but 
pleasant to the resurrection body. 

However, it should be said with emphasis in this 
connection that the mental and spiritual agony will 
far exceed and outweigh the physical. There is no 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM = 137 


agony that will compare with mental and spiritual 
agony in intensity and severity. A mentality fully 
aware of all that has been lost by sin, sensitive to the 
vile and miserable existence in Hell, remembering 
. constantly lost opportunities that can never be re- 
called, coupled with a lashing conscience and the full 
realization that such an existence will never end— 
gives us an idea of the agony of Hell that the human 
mind cannot fathom. 

It should be remembered and emphasized that 
the punishment of the wicked begins at death, is 
augmented by the resurrection and the final judg- 
ment, and continues throughout eternity. It never 
ends. 

DEGREES OF PUNISHMENT. 

“These shall receive greater condemnation,” 
(Mark 12:40). 

The Scriptures clearly teach degrees in the pun- 
ishment of the wicked. All of the wicked will suffer 
in Hell but not equally so. It will be ‘more tolera- 
ble” for some than others, (Matt. 11:21-24). Some 
are to receive a “greater condemnation” than others, 
(Mark 12:40). Some “shall be beaten with many 
stripes’ while others “shall be beaten with few 
stripes” (Luke 12:47, 48). 

Paul gives us the principle of degrees and shows 
that the degree of punishment will be commensurate 
with light and truth. He says, “where there is no 
law, neither is there transgression,” (Rom. 4:15), 
but he makes it clear that the law of conscience is 
ever operative, and teaches that men “show the 


138 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


work of the law written in their hearts, their con- 
science bearing witness therewith,” (Rom. 2:15). 
Ignorance of an external law will not excuse the sin- 
ner, ‘‘For as many as have sinned without the law 
shall also perish without the law, (Rom. 2:12). The 
degree of punishment in all such cases will be com- 
mensurate with the light of conscience. It will be 
less intense than that of the man with more light, 
but bear in mind, it will be real and eternal just the 
same. 

No man will ever suffer one pang more than he 
deserves in Hell. God is a just God, and in all of his 
dealings “Every transgression and disobedience re- 
ceived a just recompense of reward,’ (Heb. 2:2). 
He “will render to every man according to his 
works,” (Rom. 2:6). “Shall not the judge of all the 
earth do right,” (Gen. 18:25). 

The fact of future punishment is clearly taught 
in the Scriptures and it should be taught and empha- 
sized in this sinful and crooked generation. The 
prophets did it, Jesus did it, the apostles did it, and 
all the preachers who have moved this world for God 
have done it. The proper preaching of the doctrine 
of eternal punishment is not a hindrance to the suc- 
cess of the gospel, as some modernists maintain, but 
is one of its chief and indispensable auxiliaries. 
The history of preaching shows that it has helped 
and never hindered the progress of the gospel. The 
preachers who have succeeded best “‘have declared 
the whole counsel of God” without fear or favor. It 
is the preacher’s business to “preach the word,” re- 


THE DOCTRINES OF EVANGELISM 139 


membering always that “it is the power of God unto 
salvation to everyone that believeth.” 

The doctrines discussed in this chapter are vital 
‘to successful evangelism. In fact evangelism to be 
complete and lasting should not ignore any of the 
great doctrines of Christianity. They are all im- 
portant and are connected more or less with all 
thorough-going evangelism. Evangelism to be com- 
plete will not stop when the soul is won to Christ 
but will go on and teach the duty of Scriptural bap- 
tism, church membership, the Lord’s supper, and 
world-wide service in the Master’s kingdom. The 
command to teach men to “observe all things’ 
taught and commanded by the Master cannot be 
neglected without peril both to the neglected soul 
and to the cause of him who said, ‘Follow thou me.” 

“Till I come, give attendance to reading, to ex- 
hortation ,to doctrine, (1 Tim. 4:13). 


CHAPTER VI. 
AGENCIES IN EVANGELISM 


“T have become all things to all men, that I might 
by all means save some,” (1 Cor. 9:22). 

God uses all kinds of agencies in influencing men 
to turn from a life of sin to a life of righteousness. 
The God of Christianity is a universal God and he 
is not shut up to any one agency in winning a world 
to himself. God will honor and use all honorable 
and legitimate agencies in the glorious work of evan- 
gelism. History, Scripture, and experience all com- 
bine to prove the truth of this statement. 

It is our purpose in this chapter to make a brief 
study of some of the agencies God is constantly 
usin to bring in his kingdom among men. 


THE HOLY SPIRIT 


““And when he is come, he will reprove the world 
of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment,” 
(Jno. 16:8). ) 

Whatever may be the value of other agencies in 
the work of evangelism, none are comparable to the 
Holy Spirit. Evangelism apart from the work of 
the Holy Spirit is unthinkable and impossible. “Not 
by might, nor by power, but by my spirit saith the 
Lord,” (Zech. 4:6). Any attempt to substitute 
other agencies here is sure to result in tragedy and 
failure. 

140 


AGENCIES IN EVANGELISM 141 


The Holy Spirit calls men to eternal life, (Rev. 
22:7); convicts of sin, (Jno. 16:8, 9); regenerates 
the sinful heart, (Jno. 3:5) ; puts the divine seal on 
‘our salvation, (Eph. 4:30); gives us constant as- 
surance that we are saved and are children of God, 
(Rom. 8:16) ; draws men to the Father, (Jno. 6:44) ; 
sheds abroad the love of God in the new-born soul, 
(Rom. 5:5); strengthens the inner man, (Eph. 3: 
16) ; gives datly victories over the flesh and the devil, 
(Rom. 8:13); is the agent of God in justification, 
(1 Cor. 6:11); is also the agent in sanctification, 
(2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2); reveals Christ more 
perfectly to the soul-winner, (Jno. 16:14) ; teaches 
and guides the worker into the truth of Christ, (Jno. 
14:26) ; comforts and consoles the workers when 
they are sad and discouraged, (Jno. 14:16, 18); 
helps the winner to pray effectively, (Rom. 8:26) ; 
endues with power for service, (Acts 1:8; Eph. 6: 
18; Matt. 28:18, 26; Luke 24:9)... 

In addition to the above the Holy Spirit desig- 
nated and separated the workers of the earthly 
church, clothed them with irresistible power, opened 
and closed doors to them, led them in times of per- 
plexity, and in his might enabled them to carry the 
gospel message throughout the length and breadth of 
the Roman empire and to regions far beyond its 
borders. 

Thus we see that evangelism would be impossible 
without the agency of the Holy Spirit. He is indis- 
pensible both to the winner and the sinner. 


142 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


THE WORD OF GOD. 

“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the 
word of God,” (Rom. 10:17). 

The Holy Spirit works through the word. The 
word is His chosen weapon. It is indeed the sword 
of the spirit. ‘God’s workers are charged to take 
with them the sword of the Spirit, which is the word 
of God,” (Eph. 6:17). We are to take the word and 
use it as one of God’s most effective weapons: “For 
the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper 
than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the divid- 
ing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and 
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and in- 
tents of the heart, (Heb. 4:12). 

The word of God is not only the sword of the 
Spirit, it is the truth of God, and the power of God, 
(2 Cor. 6:7; Rom. 1:16), and it is eternal, (Matt. 
24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:38). 

There can be no substitute for the word of God 
in evangelism. It is tragic indeed to note the failures 
of some modern evangelists who try to substitute 
other things in the place of the word of God in evan- 
gelistic campaigns. Gross and inexcusable ignor- 
ance of the word is all too common in present day 
evangelism. “Study to show thyself approved unto 
God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, 
rightly dividing the word of truth,’ is an admoni- 
tion that should be heeded by every true lover of 
souls. It isn’t enough to know the word, we must 
also “preach the word,” (2 Tim. 4:2). 


AGENCIES IN EVANGELISM 143 


PRAYER 

“Watch and pray,” (Matt. 26:41). 

“Pray without ceasing,” (1 Thess. 5:17). 

Prayer has been a mighty agency in the work of 
soul-winning from the days of Christ and the apos- 
tles to the present hour. The story of prayer is a 
story of victory over the world, the flesh, and the 
devil. The path that leads to victory in spiritual 
things is ever and always the path of prayer. Who 
can talk to men effectively without first talking to 
God? Who can preach without prayer? Who can 
win lost men without God’s help? It is worse than 
futile to try to win souls without prayer. 

Jesus throughout his great ministry emphasized 
the importance of prayer both by precept and ex- 
ample. He prayed in connection with every deed of 
consequence in his life. He prayed as he went into 
the baptismal waters, (Luke 3:21). He spent the 
whole night in prayer previous to the calling of His 
disciples, (Luke 6:12). He prayed at the grave of 
Lazarus before breaking the fetters of death, and 
robbing the grave of its victim, (Jno. 11:41). He 
prayed before the grilling ordeal of His unfair trial, 
(Jno. 17) ; before His cowardly betrayal, (Luke 22: 
42); before his untimely death, (Luke 23:41), and 
times without number throughout His ministry. 
He not only prayed Himself, but he taught His dis- 
ciples to pray, (Matt. 6:9-13). 

Paul, like the Master, trod the path of prayer. 
His career as a Christian began and ended in prayer. 
He prayed at his conversion, (Acts 9:5-11); in the 


— 


144 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


solitudes of Arabia, (Gal. 1:12); in a jail at mid- 
night, (Acts 16:25); by the riverside with a lonely 
woman; on the seashore with the Ephesian elders; 
on the storm-tossed sea on his voyage to Rome; in a 
Roman prison; in his own hired house at Rome, and 
on unto the end of the day, when alas his great head 
fell from Nero’s cruel block. It was this man, so 
mighty in prayer, who moved an empire for God 
and became the outstanding exponent of the Chris- 
tian religion. His message to the Christians of all 
time is, “Pray without ceasing,” (1 Thess. 5:17). 

It would be both interesting and inspiring to call 
the roll of those mighty heroes and heroines of the 
cross who have moved this world for God through 
prayer, but time and space forbid. It will be suffi- 
cient to say here that evangelism without prayer is 
evangelism in name only. It is noise without power. 
It is as a tree without fruit. It is an abomination 
dissolation such as is not described even in Daniel’s 
prophecy. It is as “sounding brass or a tinkling 
cymbal.” 

It has been said that, “The painter may mix his 
colors with brain and reach his goal.” But this can- 
not be said of the soul-winner. He must mix truth, 
brain, and prayer together if he is to win and ac- 
complish his God given task. 

The story is told of a poor man upon his knees 
crushing hard stones by the road-side. A minister 
passing by said, ‘Your work is just like mine; you 
have to break hard stones, and so do I.” “Yes,” re- 
plied the man, “and if you manage to break stony 


AGENCIES IN EVANGELISM 145 


hearts, you will have to do it as I do—down on your 
knees.” 

A hint to the wise is sufficient. ‘Men ought al- 
ways to pray, and not faint,” (Luke 18:1). 


TEACHING 


“Teaching them to observe all things whatso- 
ever I have commanded you,” (Matt. 28:20). 

“These things command and teach,” (1 Tim. 
4:11). , 

“T teach everywhere in every church,” (1 Cor. 
EON AY ie 

Teaching was another effective agency used by 
Jesus, Paul, and the early church. It was a part of 
the triple program of Jesus for world conquest. 
Jesus was both a teacher and a preacher. We are 
told that, “He went about all the cities and villages, 
teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the 
gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness 
and every disease among the people, (Matt. 9:35). 
Jesus not only taught Himself, He sent others out 
to teach. His program for winning the world in- 
cludes teaching, and His organization for world 
conquest includes teachers. ‘He gave some, apos- 
tles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; 
and some, pastors and teachers,’ (Eph. 4:11). And 
again we are told that, “God hath set some in the 
church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly 
teachers,’ (1 Cor. 12:28). This is sufficient to show 
that teaching had a large place in the evangelism of 
the early centuries. 


146 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


Teaching of the right sort will ever have a large 
place in the work of evangelism. It makes no dif- 
ference whether such teaching be in the public 
school, college, university, Sunday School, young 
people’s organizations or where—just so it is of the 
right sort. Surely the Sunday School, the Christian 
College, and the many organizations to train young 
people in Christian service, have ‘‘come to the king- 
dom for such a time as this.”’ Soul-winning and 
soul-training must ever go together. The author of 
these lines has seen conversions in the public school 
where consecrated teachers were interested in the 
souls of their pupils as well as their heads. High 
school professors have cooperated in every possible 
way in quite a number of evangelistic campaigns to 
win their pupils to Christ and the Christian religion. 
The writer also knows a university professor who 
had conversions in his astronomy class; another who 
had conversions in his Greek class; and a college 
professor who had conversions in his history class. 
Why not? This is as it should be. Who has a better 
opportunity than the faithful teacher to influence 
his pupils for good. The true teacher will find in 
Jesus a noble example, the ideal model, the world’s 
greatest teacher, the embodiment of all truth, and 
the “‘only name under heaven given among men, 
whereby we must be saved,” (Acts 4:12). Why then 
should any teacher hesitate to hold up Jesus? He is 
unfit to teach who does not know and exalt the 
world’s greatest teacher. The man who is honestly 
searching for truth will not ignore Him who is “the 


AGENCIES IN EVANGELISM 147 


truth.” All truth belongs to God, and how can a man 
love truth without loving God? Now, the only way to 
-God, and all the truth, is through Jesus Christ who 
said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man 
cometh unto the Father, but by me,” (Jno. 14:6). 

A word should be said here about Christian: 
schools. We must have Christian schools as we 
must look to them for leaders in every phase of Chris- 
tian work. The state schools do not and cannot 
furnish the type of leadership demanded for Chris- 
tian leadership. The very genius of the state school 
as now organized makes this impossible. Hence, the 
Christian school must not only furnish leaders in 
every department of Christian work, it must also 
be the center of educational evangelism. The chief 
work of the school is to mold character, and then 
train and shape that character for the highest pos- 
sible service. History, literature, language, and the 
sciences are important and necessary, but are inci- 
dental in the work of the school. Character building 
is the end of all education worthy of the name. The 
first task of the school is to make men and women 
who are fit, and fitted, for service. 

The writer has long since felt that there should 
be a vocational chair in every school from the High 
School on up to the University, to acquaint the stu- 
dent with all the worth-while vocations of life and 
the qualifications necessary to success in each. With- 
out such training thousands must continue to go 
through life miserable misfits with their greatest 
talents buried forever. They will be robbed of the 


148 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


joy of doing the thing for which they were by nature 
made and adapted, and the world must suffer the 
loss entailed by such a tragedy. Educational evan- 
gelism must seek the solution of this problem. 

A word should be added here in regard to the 
Sunday school teacher, because scores of Sunday 
School teachers do not realize the importance and 
high purpose of their calling. All too many are 
just keeping a class because no one else will take it, 
while others are just teaching the historical facts 
of the Bible without presenting the claims of 
Christ on the soul and on the life. It is a tragedy 
unspeakable to teach a child about Christ, and not 
teach Christ as the only Savior from sin; to fill the 
young mind full of the facts of the Bible and then 
let the child go to Hell with a full mind and an empty 
soul. Bible facts without Christ in the soul are 
worthless. So teacher, remember that if your pupils 
are not won to Christ—all is lost. “Give heed to 
, thy teaching;” put a wooing note into it, and a 
yearning, burning life that is ‘“‘willing to spend and 
be spent’ for the souls of others. 

EXAMPLE 

“Ror I have given you an example that ye should 
do as I have done unto you, (John 13:15). 

“Be thou an example to the believers, in word, 
in conversation, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity, 
CL Tim .4312). 

“Let your light so shine before men, that thee 
may see your good works, and glorify your Father 
who is in heaven, (Matt. 5:16). 


AGENCIES IN EVANGELISM 149 


Example, from the days of Jesus to this hour, 
has been a mighty agency in evangelism. It is both 
‘Scriptural and effective. Jesus challenges us not 
only to follow His example, but to let our example 
so shine out that others may see it and turn to the 
Father, (John 13:15); (Matt. 5:16). Paul urged 
young Timothy to be.an all around example to the 
people of his generation, (1 Tim. 4:12). 

The best and greatest argument for the Chris- 
tian religion is the vight kind of Christian. No one 
can gainsay such an argument. The critic stands 
helpless in the presence of a good and noble life. 
The sinner in the face of such an argument sees 
himself in contrast and is moved to loathe his sins 
and turn to God. 

We are told that it was the good life of David 
Livingston that influenced Henry M. Stanley to turn 
from his infidelity to Christ. The New York Herald 
in 1869 sent Stanley to Central Africa to find 
Livingston but Stanley found more—he found 
Livingston’s Christ. Stanley said in after years 
that it was the consistent and inspiring life of the 
grand old hero of the cross that caused him to em- 
brace the Christian religion, and take up the work 
where Livingston left off. 

Only God himself knows the full effect and far 
reaching infiuence of the good, consecrated lives 
that have been dedicated to his cause from the days 
of Enoch and Noah to the present hour. The 
greatest thing in the world is a human life dedi- 
cated and consecrated to God. God put us in this 


150 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


world, not simply to make a living, but to make a 
life. The greatest contribution we can make to the 
world, is not money, not brilliancy, not fame—but 
alife. Jesus Christ is the one and only perfect model 
for that life: ‘‘For I have given you an example that 
ye should do as I have done to you,” (John 13:15). 


THE HOME 


“The father to the children shall make known 
thy. truth.) (isan 39319}. 

This is God’s order and we can not improve it. 
The place to begin is the home. Evangelism should 
always begin in the home. The first responsibility 
for the salvation of the child rests always upon the 
parents. The fact that parents are not Christians 
will not excuse them from responsibility. It is their 
first duty to be Christians, and then bring the chil- 
dren up in “the fear and admonition of the Lord.” 
“How shall I go up to my Father, and the child be 
not with me?” should be the heart cry of every 
parent. ‘Is it well with the child?” is a question 
that every parent must face and answer in the 
presence of the triune God. 

The parent is responsible for both the temporal 
and spiritual well being of the child, and failure in 
either sphere, puts the parent in a class with those 
of whom Paul wrote when he said, “If any provide 
not for his own, and especially for those of his own 
house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than 
an infidel,” (1 Tim. 5:8). David’s sad and tragic 
lament, “O my son, my son Absalom! Would to God 


AGENCIES IN EVANGELISM 151 


I had died for thee,” (2 Sam. 18:33), might have 
been different had he only taken his boy in hand and 
lived with him and for him in time. We do not need 
to die for our children, but to live for them. “Bring 
him to me,” (Matt. 17:17), is the command of the 
Master to every parent with a lost child. 

It was a good home and a praying mother that 
put the child Samuel on the Lord’s side and helped 
to mould and shape the life of the future prophet. 
It was the faith of grandmother Lois and mother 
Eunice that established the faith of young Timothy, 
(2 Tim. 1:5). It was careful home training by a 
godly mother that put Moses on the right side when 
the decisive hour came, (Heb. 11:23-27). The same 
kind of careful and godly training prepared John 
the Baptist in heart, mind, and soul to go before the 
face of the Son of God and prepare the way for His 
coming, (Luke 1:75, 76). 

The Christian home is one of God’s greatest 
evangelistic agencies. It is the hope of society and 
the hope o fthe world. The spiritual life of the 
church cannot be higher than that of the homes that 
compose it. Christ working in and through the home 
makes the home an almost incomparable agency in 
evangelism. The supreme need of the hour is more 
homes with the spirit and evangelistic passion of 
the Master. Is it well with the home? “Is it well 
with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well 
with the child?” (2 Kings 4:26). How many 
American homes can truthfully answer with one of 
old and say, “Jt is well?” 


152 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


GOSPEL MUSIC 

“Be filled with the spirit; speaking to yourselves 
in psalms and hymms and spiritual songs, and sing- 
ing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord,” 
(Eph. 5:19). 

God put music in the human heart, and all down 
the ages the songs of the heart have been sung to the 
world. Gospel music is becoming more and more 
a factor in evangelism. In fact it has become such 
an important factor that the writer has given a 
whole chapter in this book to a discussion of it. For 
that reason it will not be necessary to discuss it 
here. 

Gospel music softens the heart of the sinner and 
inspires the winner. It prepares the heart and mind 
of the people for the preacher’s message, and stirs 
and fires the preacher’s soul so that he can deliver 
his message in the most effective manner. There is 
nothing that will stir and warm up a congregation 
like the right kind of music. It is impossible for the 
preacher to do his best and get the best results in 
soul-winning without the aid of soul-stirring and 
soul-moving gospel music. It supplements the 
preacher’s message and helps to bring the lost to 
immediate and definite decision. What sinner, now 
saved by grace, has not heard and felt the heart call 
of—‘‘Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling;”’ “Only 
Trust Him;” ‘Just As I Am Without One Plea;’’ 
“Almost Persuaded,”. and scores of others that 
could be mentioned? We shall never know this side 
of heaven the full effect of gospel music as an agency 


AGENCIES IN EVANGELISM 153 


in evangelism. What we need is more music and 
. better music plus the motto of the Psalmist of old 
who sang, “I will sing unto the Lord as long as I 
live: I will sing praise to my God while I have 
being,’ (Psa. 104:33). 


WRITING 


“See with how large letters I write unto you 
with mine own hand,” (Gal. 6:11). 

Letter writing was a first century agency in evan- 
gelism and kingdom extension. The New Testa- 
ment for the most part is made up of inspired letters. 
We should thank God continually that Paul, Peter, 
James, John, and Jude wrote letters. They wrote 
for God and their letters still live. Paul has been 
called the “greatest letter writer of all time.” He 
has long since been dead but his letters still live. 
The New Testament letters have been the evange- 
listic torches of the Christian centuries. 

How long is it going to take us to learn that, 
“The pen is mightier than the sword?” The forces 
of evil have long since realized the value of the pen 
and have used it most effectively to spread their 
pernicious and soul-destroying propaganda. They 
have indeed been wiser in their generation than the 
children of light. 

We are living in a reading age and people are 
going to read something. They will read the worst 
if we do not furnish them the best. It behooves us 
as Christians to literally flood the world with good 
books, periodicals, and convincing and soul-stirring 


154 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


tracts. We owe to the youth of the world a sane, 
constructive and inspiring evangelistic literature. 
Self defense demands that we do more with our pens 
to reach and save this lost world. Those who cannot 
write books and tracts, can write personal letters to 
lost children, pupils, friends, and relatives concern- 
ing the most important matter of all—eternal des- 
tiny. 

The writer knew a Sunday School teacher who 
won two of the pupils of her class to Christ, who had 
moved to a distant city, by earnest, wooing personal 
letters that were saturated with the spirit of evan- 
gelism. He also knew a mother who won her son 
and his chum, who were fighting side by side in the 
trenches of France, by strong, appealing, personal 
letters warmed by the very blood of a mother’s heart. 

We can send our letters where we cannot go. A 
little stamp will carry a heart appeal and the mes- 
sage of the cross to the ends of the earth. Letter 
writing can be, and should be made a far-reaching 
and mighty agency in extending the kingdom of ‘God 
among men. Let us then who have named the name 
of Christ pick up our pens and use them for the 
salvation of men and the glory of God. 


THE PERSONAL TOUCH 
“He findeth first his own brother Simon—And 
he brought him to Jesus,” (John 1:41, 42). 
The individual is the most important human 
factor in evangelism. The individual is the one in- 
dispensable agency, humanly speaking, in all far- 


AGENCIES IN EVANGELISM 155 


reaching evangelism. God has chosen to work 
through human agency and has made the individual 
the unit in the home, school, church, and all kingdom 
agencies. Jesus surrounded himself with human 
beings, taught them, inspired them, and then sent 
them out to tell his message to a lost world. His 
appeal was, “Follow me and I will make you fishers 
of men,” (Matt. 4:19). 

The hope of evangelism is largely wrapped up 
in the individual, for no agency can ever be substi- 
tuted for the personal touch. Jesus, Peter, Andrew, 
Philip, Paul and all the New Testament soul-winners 
made much of the personal touch. All of the great 
soul-winners from New Testament times to this 
very hour have practiced and emphasized the im- 
portance of personal evangelism. Shall we then, 
who are trying to serve this generation neglect so 
important an agency? 


PREACHING 


“It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching 
to save them that believe,’’ (1 Cor. 1:21). 

“God—hath in due time manifested his word 
through preaching,” (Titus 1:2, 3). 

“Ror the preaching of the cross is to them that 
perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it 
is the power of God,” (1 Cor. 1:18). 

Preaching is God’s greatest human agency for 
reaching a lost world. It is God’s ordained way, 
and there can be no substitute for the right kind of 
preaching. God’s way is always the best way and 


156 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


our trouble comes when we try to substitute our 
ways for his ways. We should always remember 
that God says, “For my thoughts are not your 
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the 
Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 
so are my ways higher than your ways, and my 
thoughts than your thoughts, (Isa. 55:8, 9). 

The Greeks put their wisdom above the wisdom 
of God and called preaching foolishness. The apos- 
tle Paul replied and told them plainly that, “It 
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save 
them that believe,” (1 Cor. 1:21). The Greeks 
called preaching foolishness but Paul called it the 
power of God, (1 Cor. 1:18). Who was right? Let 
history teach us. The Greeks with their false 
philosophy went down, the Grecian democracy 
erumbled, and Greece has been reduced to a mere 
speck on the map of the world, while Christianity 
through preaching has covered the world and is 
spreading more rapidly today than ever before in 
the world’s history. The Greeks have become the 
boot-blacks of the world, while God’s preachers have 
become the spiritual leaders of the world. Greece 
has become one of the smallest and most backward 
nations of earth, while Christianity has become the 
lJeading religion. 

“The world through its wisdom knew not God,” 
(1 Cor. 1:21), but the world through preaching is 
finding God. The great majority of the people who 
have been saved through the Christian centuries 
have been saved under the influence of preaching. 


AGENCIES IN EVANGELISM 157 


All evangelistic agencies when rightly related will 
converge in the preaching service. This is what 
happened in the days of John the Baptist, on the day 
of Pentecost, on Mars Hill, and in the days of 
Wesley, Whitefield, Spurgeon, and Moody. The 
preaching service is the service of decision, and the 
church that does not make the preaching service the 
central and climactic service of all its evangelistic 
efforts has reversed God’s order and is doomed to 
failure as a great soul-winning agency. 


The Sunday School that fails to train and pre-~ 


pare its pupils for the preaching service is a failure 
right at the point where it has the greatest oppor- 
tunity for service. It is indeed a misnomer and a 
dangerous appendix. When the pupils of the Sun- 
day School do not attend the preaching service there 
is something radically wrong. The preacher may 
be to blame, the teachers may be to blame, the 
parents may be to blame, the pupil may be to blame, 
but usually all are to blame. This problem is easily 
solved by the right kind of cooperation on the part 
of all parties concerned. The preacher must preach 
sermons that are interesting and understandable to 
the young; teachers by precept and example must 
cooperate with and exalt the preaching service; 
parents should be visited and appealed to, to attend 


Lv 


the preaching service along with their children, and__- 


to cooperate in every possible way. Some churches 
have solved the problem by using the combined 
service, some have solved it by putting the preach- 
ing service first, while many others have solved it by 


158 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


simple cooperation on the part of all parties con- 
cerned. The writer prefers the combined service, 
but is not a stickler for any one method. The method 
that gets the best results in your church is the one 
to adopt. Methods do not matter just so long as 
the Sunday School cooperates with the preaching 
service. The sole aim of all our efforts, after all, is 
to get people under the influence of the gospel, as 
often as possible, that they may believe and be saved. 
To this end then, let us honor, uphold, and make use 
of one of God’s greatest agencies for the spread of 
the gospel, namely, preaching. This agency has 
‘‘pleased God” and certainly it should please us. 


CHAPTER VII. 
PERSONAL EVANGELISM 


“He findeth first his own brother Simon, and— 
He brought him to Jesus,’ (John 1:41, 42). 

The chapter in which the above Scripture is 
found is a wonderful chapter in personal evangelism. 
But what do we mean by the phrase personal 
evangelism? What is it? It is the winning of lost 
human beings, one-by-one, to a personal acceptance 
of salvation from sin, through faith in Christ, by 
one’s own individual efforts. This in brief is what 
is meant by personal evangelism, and it is without 
question the most important kind of evangelism. The 
New Testament is pre-eminently a book of personal 
evangelism. We have a striking example and a 
splendid object lesson right here in this first chap- 
ter of John’s Gospel. Andrew finds his brother 
Simon Peter; Jesus finds Philip; and Philip in turn 
finds his friend Nathaniel. This is as it should be, 
and as Jesus intended it should be—through all the 
Christian centuries. Winning others to Jesus is the 
natural, normal thing for a Christian to do. If one 
has really and truly been born from above he is 
naturally, and immediately, interested in others. 
Just as soon as Andrew found Jesus he was natur- 
ally, and immediately, interested in others. Just as 
soon as Andrew found Jesus he was naturally, 
and immediately, interested in his brother Simon— 

159 


160 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


“And he brought him to Jesus.’”’ Philip couldn’t 
rest until he told the good news to Nathaniel. The 
Samaritan woman who found Jesus at Jacob’s well, 
went at once and invited the men of her city to come 
to Jesus. It may be helpful to read the incident 
afresh—‘“‘The woman then left her waterpot, and 
went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 
come see a man, who told me all things that ever I 
did: is not this the Christ? Then they went out of 
the city and came unto him—And many of the 
Samaritians of that city believed on him for the 
saying—of the woman, which testified—He told me 
all that ever I did,” (John 4). 

The incident of Philip winning the Rithiopian 
eunuch furnishes another splendid examyle of effec- 
tive personal evangelism, (Acts 8:26-39). Philip 
led by the Spirit joined himself to the Ethiopian’s 
Chariot, explained to him the passage of Scripture 
that he was reading, made him see Jesus in it, heard 
his confession of faith in his newly found Saviour, 
and then stopped by the side of a stream and ad- 
ministered the ordinance of Baptism. 

The New Testament is filled with examples in 
personal evangelism, and the Spirit of God is ready 
and waiting to use us, as He did Philip, in winning 
the lost of this world to Jesus Christ. We need to 
learn that normal evangelism is individual. It was 
so in the New Testament times and it is so today. 
The supreme need of the church today is individual 
evangelism, and it is encouraging to note that the 
trend is in that direction. Dr. J. W. Porter in his 


PERSONAL EVANGELISM 161 


book “Assurance of Salvation,” has the following to 
say on this point, “For several decades past, empha- 
sis has been laid upon salvation by the wholesale. 
Fortunately, the trend is now to individual evange- 
lism. And while there is a place, and a great place, 
for the professional evangelist with sound doctrine 
and sane methods, much of professional evangelism 
has been rightly discredited. As this type of evan- 
gelism has grown in disfavor in like proportion has 
personal evangelism increased in favor, apparently, 
with God, and certainly with man. To the shame of 
many modern evangelists, it must be said they have 
made religion a joke and cheapened Christ in the 
eyes of the world. These men and their methods 
are being more and more discounted and discredited. 
Christendom can congradulate itself that there is 
promised a speedy return to the means and methods 
of New Testament evangelism.” 


THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL EVANGELISM 


The importance of Personal Evangelism cannot 
be overestimated. It is important for the following 
reasons: 

1. Jesus practiced and commanded it. The in- 
dividual method was primarily His method. Jesus 
never held a revival in the modern sense, but He 
was continually winning men one-by-one. This is 
the way He won His disciples, and this is the chief 
way by which He expects His followers to disciple 
the world. His command is to take the Gospel to 
“every creature” in “all the world.” This can never 


Pe 


162 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


be done by the revival method. This is not a protest 
against revivals, but against depending on revivals 
alone. The truth is, a real revival is impossible, un- 
less it is backed up by personal effort. Far too many 
churches are now depending on the annual revival 
altogether, to reach the lost around them. We need 
a reformation in the matter of evangelism that will 
bring us back to Christ and the New Testament. 
He made it his daily business to win men, and He 
won every type and class—lame, halt, blind, poor, 
rich, down-and-out, up-and-out, fishermen, poli- 
ticians, lawyers, Scribes, Pharisees, and at least one 
member of the Sanhedrin. He was always at it, and 
He breathed this spirit into His followers and the 
early church. The very first believers were taught 
the necessity of making Christ known to others. Not 
simply the apostles and evangelists, but all the dis- 
ciples were possessed with the idea that it was their 
business and solemn duty to make known the gospel 
“to every creature.’”’ When this early church was 
“scattered abroad,” we are told that “they went 
everywhere preaching the word.” It cannot be 
claimed that this scattering refers to the apostles 
only, for the record emphasizes the fact that those 
who were “scattered” were not apostles. “They 
were all scattered—except the apostles,” (Acts 
8:1). Thus we see that the very principle of growth 
upon which the New Testament Church was estab- 
lished makes it obligatory that every believer be a 
soul-winner. 

2. The Apostle Paul following in the footsteps 


PERSONAL EVANGELISM 163 


of his Master emphasized by practice and precept 
the importance of personal evangelism. The major 
part of his soul-winning work was personal and 
individual. It is true that he taught and preached 
in synagogues and school-houses, but he was in the 
“market place daily.’ He also practiced, and 
preached, a “house to house” religion. The record 
of the Book of Acts, and the letters of Paul, prove 
conclusively that the laity were co-workers with the 
apostles in making Christ known. Just as soon as 
a new convert found Jesus as Saviour, he in turn 
went out to find another. Such names as Priscilla, 
Aquilla, Tryphena, Tryphosa, Persis, and others are 
mentioned by the great Apostle as being “fellow 
workers” with him in winning a lost world to 
Christ. The many churches organized by Paul were 
led in their soul-saving mission by the laymen who 
constituted their membership. 

3. Church History teaches us the importance of 
personal evangelism. The whole history of the 
church is a story of individual accomplishment. 
Evangelistic success has come always in proportion 
to the number of believers who have spent them- 
selves without stint to reach the people with the 
gospel message. Whenever this work has been left 
to the preachers alone the results have harmonized 
with the number engaged in the effort. On the con- 
trary, the great ingatherings, coming from every 
sort of effort, have been traceable to the vital in- 
terest and endeavor put forth by the laity as well as 
the preachers. 


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164 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


The Protestant Reformation was, in large meas- 
ure, a return to the methods and practices of the 
early church. It sought to arouse the laity to a sense 
of personal obligation. The reformers sought to 
restore the individualism that had been crushed and 
lost under the domination of Rome. This done, 
Protestantism went forward at a rapid rate for many 
years. But again the Christian world lapsed, and 
became cold, worldly, godless, critical, formal, and 
indifferent. At this juncture God raised up John 
Wesley to revive individualism and the fires of evan- 
gelism. Mr. Wesley attributed the marvelous success 
of his mighty movement to the hearty cooperation of 
his followers. He said of them, “They were all at it, 
and always at it. Each new adherent was not only 
set to work but kept at it.” 

4. The world’s greatest preachers have empha- 
sized the importance of personal evangelism. 

Spurgeon said, “I teach my flock—to become all 
things to all men that by all means they might win 
some.” 

Henry Ward Beecher said, ‘“The longer I live the 
more confidence I have in those sermons preached 
where one man is the minister and one man is the 
congregation.” 

Dr. Lyman Beecher at the height of his great 
ministry in Boston said, “Oh, it is not I that do it; it 
is my Church. I preach on the Sabbath as hard as I 
can and then I have four hundred church members 
who go out and preach every day in the week. They 


PERSONAL EVANGELISM 165 


are preaching all the time, and that is the way, with 
God’s blessing, we get along so well.” 

Dr. George W. Truett, one of the greatest preach- 
ers and soul-winning pastors alive today, had this to 
say on the subject of personal evangelism—‘‘The 
supreme method of winning the world to Christ is 
the personal method, the bringing of people to Christ 
one by one. That is Christ’s plan. When you turn 
to the Holy Scriptures ,they are as clear as light, that 
God expects every friend He has to go out and see if 
he cannot win other friends to the same great side 
and service of Jesus. The early church went out and 
in one short generation shook the Roman empire to 
its very foundation. It was a pagan, selfish, sodden, 
rotten empire, and yet in one short generation, that 
early church had shaken that Roman empire from 
center to circumference, and kindled a gospel light 
in every part of that vast domain. And they did it 
by the personal method. There can be no substitute 
for personal evangelism. 

The writer, in an interview with Dr. J. Frank 
Norris who has built up one of the largest churches 
in the world, if not the largest, asked him the secret 
of the marvelous growth of that great institution. 
His reply was, ‘“We emphasize the Bible as the Word 
of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, prayer, and 
personal work.” This great sentance is worth think- 
ing about, and if put into practice will make any 
church a force in the life of the world. 

Dr. William A. Sunday, in one of his great ser- 
mons during the Cincinnati Campaign said, ‘No 


= 


166 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


generation in the history of Christendom has pre- 
sented to the Christian, greater nor more abundant 
opportunity for individual Christian service than the 
present one. It is the day of all days for individual 
evangelism.” Mr. Sunday not only believes in the 
importance of personal evangelism, but he has the 
knack of putting more personal workers in the field 
than any preacher since the days of the Apostle Paul. 


EVERY CHRISTIAN A SOUL-WINNER 


This is the ideal of Christ and the New Testa- 
ment. There is no excuse for laxity or indifference 
here. Any Christian, whose life is right, can win 
souls. One does not have to be an ordained minis- 
ter, nor a graduate of some college, Seminary or 
University—any Christian can do it. The most 
humble Christian in the world can be a soul-winner. 
Andrew was a simple, untaught fisherman, but this 
handicap didn’t keep him from being an effective 
winner of men. Simon Peter’s Greek is far from 
classic, but this simple man became one of the 
greatest soul-winners of Christian history. The out- 
cast Samaritan woman, after one interview with 
Jesus, was ready to tackle a city for Christ, and 
“many believed” because of her testimony. 

The writer was introduced a few years ago to 
Dr. Mitchell, the deaf and dumb evangelist of South- 
wide fame, and was told that during a period of a 
dozen years, this man who can neither speak nor 
hear—had won two thousand people to Christ. 

If a man thus handicapped can do that, what can 


PERSONAL EVANGELISM 167 


we do who have all of our faculties intact? We 
should bow our heads in shame and ask God to teach 
us anew how to be winners of souls. 

On another occasion, in the city of New Orleans, 
we were introduced to a little dwarf, hunch-back, 
scissor-grinder, and were told that during a period 
of twelve months that this little, frail, untaught, 
scrap of humanity had won more than one-hundred 
souls to confess faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour. We 
looked into his pale, yet earnest face, and as the tears 
streamed down our own, we cried, “O God, forgive 
us, for we are not worthy to stoop down and unloose 
the lachet of his shoes!” My gentle reader, are you 
worthy? In the face of such evidence, let us go 
forth “willing to spend and be spent” for the souls 
of others. 

THE PLACE TO BEGIN 

The place to begin as a personal soul-winner, is 
just where Andrew began—at home. “Every man 
over against his own house.” Just as soon as An- 
drew found Christ, he immediately thought of that 
wicked brother back home, and he didn’t stop until 
he “brought him to Jesus.” If every Christian 
would do as Andrew did, the story of the American 
home would be different. Why are we careless in 
the home? Nothing we can do will atone for care- 
lessness here. And yet, carelessness in the home is 
the besetting sin of the American people. Surely 
we ought to know that the Christian home is the 
citadel of the nation. The decline of the home means 
the decline of the Nation. The fall of the home 


168 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


means the fall of the Nation. The Christian home 
is the hope of society and the world. No parent can 
afford to neglect the religious training of the home. 
God says through His prophet, ‘“‘The father to the 
children shall make known the truth,” (Isa. 38:19). 
“How shall I go up to my Father, and the child be 
not with me? This should be the soliloquy of every 
father, mother, and relative. If there is a lost child 
in the home Christ says ,“Bring him to me,” (Matt. 
17:17). The question, “Is the young man safe?” 
should not be posponed until Absolom is dead. It 
will be too late then. Is it well with the home? “Is 
it well with thee; is it well with thy husband; is it 
well with the child?” When we have answered this 
question in the affirmative, we shall then be ready 
to go from ‘‘house to house,” from “market place to 
market place” with the challenging message—‘‘Come 
and see.” 
THE SOUL-WINNER’S EQUIPMENT 

A good fisherman wants the best possible tackle 
as he launches out into the deep. So with those who 
would catch men, they should have the best. The 
finest of all arts is the art of catching men, and those 
who aspire to master this art can study the follow- 
ing ten suggestions with profit.. To be a successful 
soul-winner one must— 

1. Know Christ as Saviour. The blind cannot 
lead the blind. Christ must be an experimental 
reality. Outward profession and church member- 
ship will not suffice, you must know that you “have 
been with Jesus.” 


PERSONAL EVANGELISM 169 


2. One must be willing to be led by the Spirit— 
the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. “He 
will guide you into all truth,” (Jno. 16:18). He will 
not only guide you in the understanding of the truth 
of Christ, but will impart the power necessary to 
make that truth effective. ‘Ye shall receive power, 
after the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall 
be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all 
Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part 
of the earth,” (Acts 1:8). It is impossible to wit- 
ness effectively without the presence and aid of the 
Holy Spirit. Without Him there can be no convic- 
tion, for He it is who “will convict the world of sin, 
and of righteousness, and of judgment,” (Jno. 16:8). 
Without Him there can be no new-birth. ‘Ye must 
be born again,” and that birth must be “of the 
Spirit” if one is to see.the kingdom of God. This 
fact will be made clear by reading John 3:1-12. How 
futile then will it be to try to win men to God with- 
out the aid and direction of the Holy Spirit. 

3. If you would be an effective soul-winner 
know your Bible. “Study to show thyself approved 
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be 
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth,” (2 
Tim. 2:15). ‘‘All scripture is given by inspiration 
of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, 
for correction, for instruction in righteousness that 
the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly fur- 
nished unto all good works,” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). 

4. Live the prayer life. “Be careful for nothing; 
but in everything, by prayer and supplication with 


170 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


mayan let your requests be made known unto 
oC PhiLasoy. 

rivals effectual, fervent prayer of a mntetue 
man availeth much,” (James 5:16). “But thou, 
when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when 
thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which 
is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret 
shall reward thee openly,” (Matt. 6:6). 

5. Be tactful. “Giving no offence in anything 
that the ministry be not blamed; but in all things, 
approving ourselves as ministers of God, in much 
patience in affications, in necessities, in distress,” 
(2 Cor. 6:8, 4). 

“Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless 
as doves,” (Matt. 10:16). 

“T have become all things to all men, that I might 
by all means save some,” (1 Cor. 9:22). 

6. Be courageous. No coward can be an effec- 
tive soul-winner. We should never be afraid to 
speak out boldly for Christ. 

“But Peter and John answered and said unto 
them, whether it be right in the sight of God to 
hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. 
For we cannot but speak the things which we have 
seen and heard,” (Acts 4:19, 20). 

“Let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them 
be ashamed that transgress,” (Ps. 25:3). 

“IT am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,, for 
it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone 
that believeth,” (Romans 1:16). 


-PERSONAL EVANGELISM 171 


7. Live a life separated from the world. 

“Be not unequally yoked together with un- 
believers: for what fellowship hath righteousness 
with unrighteousness? And what communion hath 
light with darkness? And what concord hath 
Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that be- 
lieveth with an infidel? And what agreement hath 
the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple 
of the living God; as God hath said I will dwell in 
them; and walk in them; and I will be their God, 
and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out 
from among them, and be ye separate saith the Lord, 
and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive 
you,” (2 Cor. 6:14-17). 

8. Be deeply concerned for the lost. “Brethren, 
my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, 
that they might be saved,” (Romans 10:1). 

“For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace, and 
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the right- 
eousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the 
salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth, and the 
Gentiles shall see Thy righteousness,” (Isa. 62:1, 2). 
“And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you,” 
(2 Cor. 12:15). 

“For I could wish that myself were accursed 
from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen accord- 
ing to the flesh,” (Romans 9:3). 

9. Make the way of salvation plain. “For by 
grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of 
yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works lest 
any man should boast,’’ (Eph. 2:8, 9). 


172 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


10. Go forth in faith. ‘Above all, taking the 
shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench 
all the fiery darts of the wicked,” (Eph. 6:16). 

“Holding faith, and a good conscience; which 
some having put away concerning faith have made 
shipwreck,” (1 Tim. 1:19). 

“T can do all things through Christ who streng- 
thens me,” (Phil. 4:13). 


CHAPTER VIII. 
CHILD EVANGELISM 


“Suffer the little children, and forbid them not 
to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of 
heaven,” (Matt. 19:14). 

It is most encouraging to note that we have come 
upon a time in which child evangelism is being 
emphasized as never before in the history of Chris- 
tianity. This simply means that we are getting 
back to Christ and the New Testament. Jesus and 
the early church made much of the child. Jesus 
placed the child “in the midst’’—made him central. 
“And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set 
him in the midst of them, and said, “Verily I say 
unto you, except ye be converted, and become as 
little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom 
of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble him- 
self as this little child, the same is the greatest in 
the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive 
one such little child in my name receiveth me. But 
whoso shall offend one of these little ones which 
believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone 
were hanged about his neck, and that he were 
drowned in the depth of the sea,” (Matt. 18:2-6). 
“Take heed that ye despise not one of these little 
ones; for I say unto you; That in heaven theirAngels 
do always behold the face of my Father which is in 
heaven. For the Son of man is come to save that 
which was lost,” (Matt. 18:10, 11). 

173 


174 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


These passages teach uS some very practical 
lessons in regard to our relation to, and duty toward, 
the child. It may be helpful just here to make a 
brief summary. 

1. We should put the child “in the midst’”—in 
our hearts, thoughts, and plans. 

2. If we would be great in God’s sight, we must 
first be humble, like the child. 

3. When we receive the children into our hearts 
and thoughts, ‘“‘in Christ’s name,” we indeed receive 
Christ Himself. 

4. The man who would “offend” or “‘cause to 
stumble” one of these little ones who believe in 
Christ is walking on dangerous ground. “Woe unto 
the world because of offences! for it must needs be 
that offences come; but woe to that man by whom 
the offence cometh!” 

5. We are warned not to “‘despise’’—“these little 
ones,’ but love them, and seek their salvation. “For 
the Son of man is come to save that which was lost,” 
(Matt. 18:11). 

Jesus was never too busy to give attention to the 
children. In the following passages we have a 
beautiful incident which most strikingly sets forth 
the attitude of Jesus toward children. ‘And they 
brought young children to him, that he should touch 
them; and his disciples rebuked those that brought 
them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much dis- 
pleased, and said unto them, “Suffer the little chil- 
dren to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of 
such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, 


CHILD EVANGELISM 175 


whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as 
a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he 
took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, 
and blessed them,” (Mark 10: 13-16). We make 
mention of this incident simply to show the love and 
concern of Jesus for children. This passage does 
not teach infant baptism, neither does it teach that 
these children were old enough to understand the 
plan of salvation. Mark says they were “young 
children” and Luke says they were “‘infants.” Being 
infants they were already safe. Dr. E. Y. Mullins, 
in “Talks on Soul Winning,” says, “No one now be- 
lieves that children dying in infancy are lost. Pro- 
vision is made for them in the all-inclusive atone- 
ment of Christ, and God in his own way regenerates 
and cleanses them from the taint of sin. But when 
~ children reach the age of personal responsibility 
they become accountable to God as individuals, and 
they offer the most promising of all fields of en- 
deavor for the soul-winner.” 

It is all the more striking to note that Jesus loved 
and showed his concern for these children before 
they reached the age of personal responsibility, and 
we should do the same. We cannot begin too early 
in teaching and influencing the children of our day 
toward Christ. Surely the Cradle Roll, Beginners, 
and Primary departments have come to the kingdom 
for such a time as this. The Jews and Catholics 
have long since learned the importance and value of 
beginning early in the religious training of their 
children. A hint to the wise just here should be 
sufficient. 


a 


176 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


SOME REASONS WHY WE SHOULD BRING THE CHILD TO 
CHRIST 

1. Because it is the Will of God. “It is not the 
will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of 
these little ones should perish,” (Matt. 18:14). The 
context shows the anxiety of our Heavenly Father 
for the salvation of the children.. If the children 
are lost it will not be God’s fault, but ours. 

2. Because Christ is anxious for the children to 
come to Him. He has shown this both by example 
and explicit command, (Matt. 19:13-35). His rebuke 
is to those who would, in any wise, stand in the way 
of the children coming. How dangerous it is to 
stand between Christ and the child. 

8. Because the child needs Christ. Children who 
have reached the age of personal responsibility are 
lost and need to be saved just as truly as older 
people. ‘‘All have sinned and come short of the 
glory of God,” (Rom. 3:28). ‘He that believeth on 
the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth 
not the Son shall not see life: but the wrath of God 
abideth on him,” (Jno. 31:36). ‘‘He that believeth 
and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth 
not shall be damned,” (Mark 16:16). ‘“‘Ye must be 
born again,” (Jno. 3:17). Surely these and scores 
of other passages, that could be given if space per- 
mitted, teach the absolute necessity of bringing the 
child through conversion to Christ. This experience 
we call conversion or regeneration is fundamentally 
the same in the child as in the adult. Regeneration 
is of God, and the result in any case is a “new 


CHILD EVANGELISM 177 


creature.” The outward manifestation may be 
different, and usually is, but the inward process is 
the same. All must be “born of the Spirit’’—to 
enter the kingdom of God. It would indeed be folly 
to expect the same manifestations of remorse, regret, 
and deep emotion, in the child that we see in the 
hardened sinner. And yet many good meaning 
people expect the outward manifestation to be the 
same in every case. They expect everybody, children 
and all, to act just like they did, and if they do not 
they discredit their experience and say it wasn’t 
genuine. This is a big blunder, and as a result of 
such ignorance many babes in Christ Jesus, have 
been wounded and dwarfed, right at a time when 
they most needed sympathy and help. Wisdom and 
tact of the highest sort are needed here. 

Another matter of vital importance should be 
understood in this connection—the age of personal 
responsibility. When do children reach the age of 
personal responsibility, or as we sometimes Say, ac- 
countability? No hard and fast lines can be drawn 
here. No definite age line can be given to suit all 
cases. It all depends on the training and capacity 
of the child. Children vary greatly in their capacity 
to receive and understand religious truth. Some 
will understand the essential meaning of the gospel 
at a very early age, others will have to be much 
older. The writer has witnessed beautiful con- 
versions at five, six, and seven years of age, and on 
the other hand has seen children, ten and twelve, 
who had had no sense of sin and seemed to be incap- 


178 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


able of grasping the most simple truths of the gospel. 
The very fact that we do not know the exact age of 
personal responsibility in each case, makes it all the 
more important that we begin early the religious 
instruction of the child, and that we watch with 
anxious eyes for the first opportunity to lead the 
growing soul to the Saviour. 

4, We should lead the child to Christ early, be- 
cause the child is more responsive to the appeals of 
the gospel than the adult. 

It is comparatively easy to reach the child, but 
hard to reach the adult. Advancing years harden 
the heart and reduce the chances of conversion. We 
are told, by those who are in a position to know, that 
75% of those who become Christians do so before 
they are fifteen years of age—between eight and fif- 
teen. Anyone who has had much experience in evan- 
gelistic work knows that this percentage is near the 
mark. If further proof is wanted the following in- 
teresting table prepared by Dr. George Albert Coe 
may be interesting: 


AGE OF CONVERSION OR DECISIVE AWAKENING 
OF 1,784 MEN. 


Cases Average 
Examined. Age. 


Graduates of Drew Seminary ................ 776 16.4 
GN UT RINT ER is ed UU es te IN ARLE Ta. 8 Fal 526 16.5 
Starbuck’s Conversion Cases ...........ee08: 51 15.7 
Starbuck’s Cases of Spontaneous Awakening... 75 16.3 
Members of Rock River Conference .......... 272 16.4 
My own Class of Decisive Awakening ........ 84 15.4 





TSE Gah or i oi Wn cies al a: eta ek eae 1,784 16.4 


CHILD EVANGELISM 179 


It will be noted that this table deals with the con- 
versions of men, and many of them were probably 
led to Christ years before they publicly confessed 
Him. It is also well to remember that girls, as a 
rule, yield to Christ earlier than boys. But the point 
we would emphasize here is—the earlier we begin in 
winning the child, the easier the task and the more 
certain will be the results. 

5. Early conversions usually mean more to 
Christ, to the child, and to the world. When the 
child is won Christ gets a soul, plus a life. 

When the aged, the hardened sinner, is won 
Christ gets a soul, but very little of the life. Why 
is it then that so many good people rejoice more 
over the conversion of a hardened sinner than they 
do over the conversion of a child? We should re- 
joice over both, but never discriminate against the 
child. ‘There is joy in the presence of the angels 
of God over one sinner that repenteth.”’ 

Anyone out of Christ is a sinner, and there is joy 
among the angels over all sinners alike, when they 
turn to Christ as Saviour. “Is it well with the 
child?” We should never let up in our efforts until 
we can say—‘It is well.’ Then, we can rejoice 
with the angels. 

THE WINNERS’ PREPARATION 

The one who would win children should be will- 
ing to make the necessary preparation. There are 
some things the successful winner of children “must 
know.” 

1. He must know Christ as Saviour. Christ 


180 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


must be real to the winner of souls. The better you 
know Him, the better you can win children. “That 
I may know Him” is the heart cry of every true 
soul-winner. 

2. You will need a practical, working knowledge 
of the Bible. “Study to show thyself approved unto 
God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, 
rightly dividing the world of truth,” (2 Tim. 2:15). 

3. Know the child. Child study is not a foolish 
fad, but a mighty lever in the hands of him who 
would lift the child up to Christ. You must know 
the child individually—his character, surroundings, 
associates, habits, knowledge, home training, etc. 
The more you know about him the easier it will be 
to win him. Each child should be studied separately 
and dealt with separately. 

It is dangerous to try to lead children en masse 
to Christ. You may get them into the church this 
way but many of them will not know Christ when 
they get in. We need to be very careful here as we 
have enough unconverted people in the churches 
now. Itisa tragedy to bring anyone into the church 
who doesn’t know Christ. 


THE WAY TO BRING THE CHILD TO CHRIST 


1. Seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let 
Him lead you all the way—every step of the way. 

2. Hold up Christ. Not the Church, not 
ordinances, but Christ. Let him see “Jesus only.” 
It is our duty to make Christ real to the child. Hold 
Him up as a real friend, and as a real Saviour. 


P 


CHILD EVANGELISM 181 


3. Use simple language. Not the language of 
books but the language of the child. Use simple 
common-place illustrations. Illustrations taken 
from every-day life are the best. Jesus illustrated 
the most sublime truths of the gospel by using 
simple, common-place illustrations. “Follow thou 
me,” is His command to us. 

4. Make the plan of salvation plain. Explain 
to the child what it means to turn from sin, what it 
means to love, what it means to trust. All of these 
terms can be illustrated from every-day life. 

5. Draw the net. When the child is ready to 
turn from sin and all wrong doing, ready to love and 
trust Jesus as his Saviour—draw the net. Keep in 
close communication with Jesus yourself. Listen 
for His whispers. He will make known the oppor- 
tune moment. 

DECISION DAY 

Decision Day is an institution of our modern 
Sunday school and has been widely and effectively 
used in recent years. If it is rightly used it is a 
blessing, if not, it becomes a curse. What do we 
mean by Decision Day? It is a special day set apart 
quarterly, semi-anually, or annually, on which the 
unsaved are appealed to, to make a definite decision 
for Christ and confess Him publicly. The writer has 
used this day for a dozen years very effectively. 
However, there are a few important things to bear 
in mind. 

1. Before the Day. 

(1). Set the time well in advance, so that all 


4 


182 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


interested will have time to know about it and get 
ready for it. 

(2). Plan for it. Nothing worth while can be 
done without some wise planning. Plan the pro- 
gram, the sermon, and the music. Plan to have 
both parents and children present if possible. Don’t 
leave anything to chance. Train the workers. Make 
them feel the responsibility resting upon God’s 
“watchman.” 

(3). Seek the cooperation of all those who 
should be interested—pastor, officers of the church, 
officers of the Sunday school, teachers of the Sunday 
school, every member of the church, and the parents 
and friends of the children. 

This cooperation may be secured by a special 
sermon, public appeals, personal invitations, and 
personal visits. 

(4). Pray! Pray! Pray! Get every Christian 
connected with the work in any way on his knees 
before God in behalf of the lost. The more prayer 
meetings in advance of the day, the better. There 
should be prayer meetings in the homes, at church, 
in the class room, and in the “closet.” “Pray with- 
out ceasing.” 

2. On the Day. 

(1). The pastor is naturally the leader. His 
heart must be on fire, and his appeal must come 
from the depths of his soul. Nothing mechanical 
nor artificial will do at a time like this. His whole 
being must be charged and surcharged with the 
Spirit of God. 


CHILD EVANGELISM 183 


(2). The music must be spiritual and in har- 
mony with the message and the occasion. 

(3). The workers, spirit-filled and spirit-led, 
should be in their places. Some will sing, some will 
pray, and those best adapted will do the personal 
work. Two appeals should be made to every lost 
pupil in the school—one by the teacher in the class 
room, and one by the pastor in public, and if need 
be a third should be made by some wise, tactful, 
personal worker standing by the pupil’s side. 

3. After the Day. 

We must keep a careful record of these decisions 
as they are sacred in God’s sight, and should be in 
our sight. We must then follow up these babes in 
Christ Jesus—instruct them in regard to the ordi- 
nances, and lead them on to church membership. 

Are we to leave them here? No! No! 

The wise church will put her strong arms of 
protecting love and care about them and continue 
to nurture them until they become “full grown” men 
and women “unto the measure of the stature of the 
fullness of Christ.” 

“Is it well with the child?” 


CHAPTER IX. 
CHURCH EVANGELISM 


“Do the work of an evangelist,” (1 Tim. 4:5). 

An evangelist is anyone who brings the glad 
tidings of Jesus Christ to others. Every Christian 
can, and should be an evangelist. If one is born 
again he is naturally interested in others. One of 
the best evidences that you are a Christian is your 
concern for the souls of other people. John says, 
“We know that we have passed from death unto 
life because we love the brethren.” Any Christian, 
whose heart is right, can win souls, and should be 
“doing the work of an evangelist,” three hundred 
and sixty-five days in the year. To be sure, not in 
the professional, itinerant sense, as it would be im- 
practicable and impossible for every Christian to 
be a traveling evangelist. There will always be 
room and place for the God-called, New Testament, 
traveling evangelist, but of his work we are not 
concerned in this chapter. We must limit this dis- 
cussion to Church Evangelism. 


KINDS OF EVANGELISM 
There are many kinds and types of evangelism. 
We have personal evangelism, pastoral evangelism, 
church evangelism, itinerant evangelism, union 
evangelism, and world evangelism. These different 
types may overlap somewhat, but they all have a 
184 


CHURCH EVANGELISM 185 


place in the advancement and progress of the king- 
dom of the Lord. 
CHURCH EVANGELISM DEFINED 

Church evangelism—‘“is the co-operative effort 
of pastor and people in winning the lost, within 
their personal reach, to Christ.” Within the reach 
of every church, is a certain constituency of lost 
people who need our Christ and His gospel, and it 
is the first business of every church to win that 
constituency. It may be a never-ending task, but 
we must keep at it. We should never let up until 
the last man has been reached. 


THE BEST WAY 


Is for the pastor and people to get the task on 
their hearts and then work together daily, and in 
special revivals, to accomplish it. The pastor, 
naturally, should be the leader ,both in this daily 
effort and in the special revivals. It is always best, 
where possible, for the pastor to be his own evange- 
list. Many churches have an idea that to have a 
revival, some other pastor or professional evange- 
list must be invited to lead in the work. This may 
be a good way, but certainly it is not the best way. 
The writer has tried both ways, and experience and 
observation compel him to conclude that the pastor 
is the logical man to do the preaching in all the 
revivals of his church provided he feels equal to the 
task, and can teach, and lead, the church to back 
him up. The wise church will follow the pastor, 
instead of custom, in this important matter. I 


186 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


know some will argue the advantages of the “new 
voice” and the “new broom.” There may be some 
seeming and imaginary advantages, but these are, 
in the majority of cases, offset by a bad reaction or 
aftermath in which the pastor has the bag to hold, 
and all too often has to turn it loose and move on to 
some other field. Why? Because the “new broom” 
with a few slick-worn sermons has stirred up a lot 
of excitement and stolen the affections of the church 
and new converts. There are, of course, many 
beautiful exceptions, but the exceptions are still too 
few. Cheap evangelism is one of the outstanding 
causes of short pastorates today. 


PREACHERS PREPARATION 


If the pastor is to be his own evangelist he must 
make special preparation to that end. 

1. It will be necessary for him to make special 
mental preparation. It will require more sermons 
and therefore more study. The wise pastor will 
study his Bible daily, and by so doing will find in- 
spiration, illustrations, and the bulk of his sermon 
material. The preacher who wins souls must 
preach the Bible and make Christ his central theme. 
However, he should not stop here. He should study 
history, literature, life, current events, and if time 
permits, a little science or philosophy will not hurt— 
if he is well balanced. Jesus drew his illustrations 
from everywhere, and wise and resourceful is that 
preacher who follows in His footsteps. The sermons 
of other men are ofttimes helpful and suggestive, 


CHURCH EVANGELISM 187 


but watch the snare. If we are to make our sermons 
grip and hold attention, we must keep fresh and 
resourceful. Why should a preacher become dry 
and stale?: He has the most interesting message in 
the world to deliver, and the universe with its 
wealth of material stands waiting his command. 

2. Sermon preparation. It is wise to begin 
months in advance. In daily study, texts and themes 
will come which are especially suited for revival 
work. Just as soon as the annual revival closes, 
begin at once on special sermons for the next one. 
The successful hunter has his license and am- 
munition all ready when the hunting season arrives. 
It takes a lot of ammunition for the preacher who 
holds his own revivals and preaches to the same 
crowd every Sunday. 

3. Heart preparation. The preacher’s soul must 
be on fire for lost souls. He will need extra power 
and inspiration for this special task. How may 
these be obtained? Read the great evangelistic 
messages of the Bible and study the lives of the men 
who delivered them. Go back and study afresh the 
biographies and burning messages of the great soul- 
winners of earth. The story of soul-winning, from 
the cross until now, is a wonderful story. It will 
pay you to trace it. When I study the life stories of 
Peter, Paul, Luther, Knox, Spurgeon, Moody, Chap- 
man, Finney, Sunday, Fanny Crosby, and scores of 
others, my own heart burns and yearns for the 
power necessary to be an effective soul-winner. 
Last, but not least, if we would be soul-winning 


188 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


pastors, we must spend some of our best moments 
in the closet with Him who has “all power” both in 
heaven and on earth. We must talk to God before 
we can really speak to men. Knowing this, let us 
reverently “‘watch and pray” until our souls are 
charged and surcharged with the spirit of Him who 
said “follow thou me.”’ 


CHURCH PREPARATION 


It is not enough for the preacher to be prepared, 
the church also needs special preparation. Many 
revivals are failures because the people lack prepara- 
tion. Any special task calls for special preparation. 
The wise pastor will begin at least two months in 
advance. 

1. Begin with the officers. Talk and pray with 
them about your plans. Get them back of you. Set 
a time, but first ask God’s direction about the best 
time. 

2. Bring the matter before the whole church 
for final decision. Church backing is absolutely 
necessary to success. It means everything to have 
the authority and backing of the greatest institution 
in the world—the New Testament Church. A church 
with the mind of Christ. There are thousands of 
good pastors who would be delighted to hold their 
own revivals, and thus lead the church in the work 
of evangelism, but their churches will not get back 
of them. They are more concerned about entertain- 
ment than souls. Any pastor, whose soul is on fire 
for lost souls, can hold a good and successful revival 


CHURCH EVANGELISM 189 


if he has the cooperation of his church. The evange- 
listic church makes an evangelistic pastor, and the 
evangelistic pastor usually makes an evangelistic 
church. 

3. Talk about the coming revival, and get the 
people to talking. It may take a special sermon to 
get them started. Talk it everywhere, until it be 
comes the talk of the town. 

4. Hold cottage prayer meetings at least six 
weeks previous to the revival proper. Divide the 
city or community into sections, and have at least 
one prayer meeting a week in each section. The 
more the better. 

5. Call for volunteers who will volunteer to try 
to win at least one soul during the revival. They 
may fail but the effort will be a blessing. Teach this 
class of volunteers some book on soul-winning. 
(“Winning to Christ;” “One-To-Win-One Helper ;” 
“Taking Men Alive;’ With Christ After The Lost,” 
etc).. The writer has had as many as one hundred 
volunteers, studying at one time, the fine art of 
winning souls. Train them, and send them out, as 
did the Master, and then watch results. Something 
is bound to happen with one hundred trained workers 
in the field, and it will happen. 

6. Afternoon prayer meetings. The afternoon 
prayer meetings take the place of the cottage prayer 
meetings after the revival starts. They can be held 
in some home or at the church. Where a service is 
held in the afternoon some morning hour should be 
selected. 


190 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


7. Prayer meetings should also be held fifteeen 
minutes before the evening service. The writer has 
departmental prayer meetings at this period and 
has seen aS many as one hundred and twenty in the 
Junior prayer meeting alone. Aside from these, the 
women meet in one big room and the men in another 
for prayer. The pastor usually meets with the men, 
and how it stirs his soul to see from 75 to 100 men 
praying for him, lost souls, and the service to follow. 
Who couldn’t preach with 200 or more people pray- 
ing for him just before the service? Results are sure 
when people pray. The best revivals are not only 
worked up but prayed down. If we do our part God 
will certainly do His—He never fails. 


ADVERTISE 


There is a saying, “It pays to advertise,” and it 
certainly does. If you don’t believe it, try it. 
Business men know it pays, and wide-awake churches 
know it. The Devil also knows it and makes good 
use of it. If the thing that we are doing is good and 
worth while, we should let the world know about it. 
We are in the Soul Winning Business and we should 
let the lost world know about it. How can we do it? 
Through the medium of the daily paper, county 
paper, denominational paper, and the local church 
paper. All of these can, and should be used to ad- 
vertise Kingdom Business. Hand bills, window 
placards, bulletin boards and small cards, containing 
the sermon themes, are all of inestimatable value in 
advertising revivals and any worth while work of 


CHURCH EVANGELISM P91 


the church. Last but not least, use the human 
tongue. Get people to talking about the revival and 
the things of God. It is the business of every Chris- 
tian, not to boast, but to boost. 


“Put your hammer in the locker, 
And the“anvil too, likewise, 
Anyone can be a knocker, 
Any fool can criticise.” 


Cultivate a winning manner, 

Though it hurts your face to smile, 
And seems awkward at the outset, 

Be a booster for a while.” 


Don’t be afraid to advertise, remember always 
the words of Him who said, “For the children of 
this world are in their generation wiser than the 
children of light,’ (Luke 16:8). It should not be 
so, and we should see to it that this indictment is 
not brought against the church of our day. 


GOOD MUSIC 


Good music is “half the battle.’ Good music 
does certainly play a large part in modern evange- 
lism, and in all of the work of the church of our time. 
Why has the church been so slow in discovering the 
value of good music? Music had a large place in the 
worship of the ancient temple, and should have a 
large and worthy place in every Christian temple 
today. It is scriptural. Read thé psalms, and listen 
to the early disciples as they sing around the Lord’s 


192 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


table in that memorable upper room. One of the 
outstanding needs of Christianity today—is trained, 
efficient, and consecrated leadership in the realm of 
song. Every church needs someone who can lead 
the choir—“‘‘the battlefield of the church” aright, and 
also the congregation. This leader should know 
Christ and know music, and should seek to put 
Christ’s spirit into every song and service. The 
church should be just as careful in calling this man 
as in calling a pastor. He should be a man who has 
both religion and common sense. There are too 
many would be singers who have good voices, but 
lack religion and good old sound common sense. 
This is the trouble with some singing evangelists, 
and they wonder why they are not invited back the 
second time. We need more evangelistic singers like 
Fred Schofield, H. Evan McKinley, David M. 
Hughes, etc. Men of their type are a blessing to 
any church. They train the children, the congre- 
gation, the choirs—and have the people singing their 
songs long after they are gone. They leave behind 
a singing church and a happy people. They inspire 
the preacher, and put pep, spirit and power into 
every service. Good singing means good preaching. 
The two go together. Our daily prayer should be 
for more good singers with the spirit and consecra- 
tion of that immortal singer who sang, “I will sing 
of mercy and judgment unto Thee, O Lord, will I 
sing,” (Ps. 101:1). The pastor who would hold his 
own revivals should give special attention to the 
musical program of his church. The more music, the 


CHURCH EVANGELISM 193 


better, if it is of the right sort. Music not only 
helps to draw the people, it helps to hold and win 
them. It prepares them for the preacher’s message, 
and prepares the preacher to deliver his message. 
Wise is the church that knows and appreciates the 
value of good music. 


THE EVANGELISTIC SERVICE 


It should be brief, direct, inspiring, and decisive. 
The people have to work during the day and should 
not be kept too long—if you want regular attend- 
ance. The singer should not hog all the time, neither 
should the preacher. They should go about fifty- 
fifty. Itisa mighty good thing in evangelistic work 
to know just when to stop. There is always a 
strategic moment to draw the net, but only Christ 
and experience can make that moment known. Many 
good and eloquent preachers fail just here. They 
are good preachers but poor evangelists, because 
they let the supreme moment pass. They are not 
willing to stop and draw the net until they have 
gotten in every point, poem, and illustration. Souls 
are worth more than sermons, and if you reach 
white heat before you get off that pet illustration— 
draw the net. Hit while the iron is hot, that illus- 
tration you didn’t need will keep. A sermon too 
long, or a song service unduly prolonged, usually 
proves fatal to an evangelistic service. “Be yey 
therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves,” 
(Matt. 10:16). 


194 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


ADVANTAGES OF THIS METHOD 


1. It makes the church evangelistic, not only 
during the revival, but 365 days in the year. 

2. It develops the evangelistic gifts of the 
pastor, and brings out the best there is in him. 

3. It binds the new converts to the church and 
pastor, in a way that is impossible by any other 
method. 

4. It makes the work permanent and lasting. 
The new members stick better, and are more easily 
lined up with the work of the church. 

5. Last but not least, it makes the ideal of a 
perennial revival a reality. This is as it should be, 
*“‘And the Lord added unto the church daily those 
who were being saved,” (Acts 2:47). 


DOES IT REALLY WORK 


The method advocated in this chapter is not 
theory, as it has been tried by the author for-nearly 
fourteen years in his own church. He knows it will 
work for he has tried it out in two pastorates. It 
has also been tried by such outstanding men as 
Russell H. Conwell, Geo. Truett, F. F. Gibson, H. A. 
Porter, Frank Norris, James Leavell, Louis Albert 
Banks, Charles L. Goodell, J. Wilbur Chapman 
(when he was in the pastorate), Paul Raider, and 
scores of others. You do not have to be a Conwell 
or a Banks to use it. Any pastor who dares to break 
with custom, and has a passion for souls can do it. 
The writer has tried it for ten years in one pas- 
torate, and during that period held twelve revivals, 


CHURCH EVANGELISM | 195 


continuing three weeks each. The results were not 
spectacular, but very gratifying in a Catholic city, 
surrounded by a race track, road houses, saloons, 
gambling dives and nearly every other device known 
to the devil and his crowd. 

The average was more than one hundred addi- 
tions a year, and some years there were more than 
200, and from a little struggling band, the church 
grew to be one of the largest churches in the city 
of Covington, Kentucky. A beautiful new plant 
with modern equipment was built, and the church 
led the association of twenty-four churches in soul- 
winning and Sunday school attendance for nearly 
ten years. These results may seem meager to some, 
but they at least prove that the average pastor, with 
an average church, can do the things advocated in 
this chapter. The writer held a number of revivals 
each year outside his own church, and enjoyed the 
work and fellowship very much, but he still believes 
from the depth of his soul that the above is the ideal 
method, when it can be carried out. He believes it 
despite the fact that he is now giving all of his time 
to the work of general evangelism. 

However, if the above method cannot be carried 
out for any good reason, the next best thing to do, 
is to secure the services of some good pastor with 
evangelistic fire and zeal, or some good, well recom- 
mended evangelist. There is mtich to be said in 
favor of two good men working together in the 
great work of evangelism. The disciples went two 
and two, and Paul and Barnabas did likewise, but 


196 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


be it remembered—they were not doing church 
evangelism, but rather general evangelism. 


IT PAYS TO WIN SOULS 


Souls are more important than methods, and the 
writer has no quarrel with any method that reaches 
souls and gets permanent results. The biggest. 
paying business in the world is the business of win- 
ning souls, and every Christian and church interested 
in real dividends should get into this business heart 
and soul. 

“Let him know, that he who turneth a sinner 
from the error of his way, shall save a soul from 
death, and shall cover a multitude of sins,” 
(James 5:20). 

“And they that be wise shall shine as the bright- 
ness of the firmament; and they that turn many to 
righteousness as the stars for ever and ever,” 
(Daniel 12:3). 

“He that winneth souls is wise,” (Prov. 11:30). 

In view of these and many other passages, it 
behooves us as pastors, churches, and Christians 
to be “‘wise” and go out and—‘Do the work of an 
evangelist.” 


CHAPTER X. 
COOPERATIVE EVANGELISM 


“Q Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the 
years,’ (Hab. 3:2). 

We mean by cooperative evangelism what is 
usually termed union evangelism. It is sometimes 
called Vocational or Professional Evangelism, es- 
pecially as it operates in union revival services. In 
such evangelism all, or at least a majority, of the 
churches of a given community unite in a general 
evangelistic campaign, and invite some general, or 
professional, evangelist to lead them in the work. 
The campaign may be community-wide, city-wide or 
county-wide. Local conditions always determine the 
scope of the campaign. The churches cooperating do 
away with their regular services, put aside their 
regular program for the time being, and make their 
interests subservient to best interests of the general 
movement. 

TWO TYPES 


There are two types of union evangelistic 
campaigns, namely, the simultaneous campaign and 
the centralized city campaign. 


1. The Simultaneous Campaign. This may be 
community-wide, city-wide or county-wide. In the 
city, the territory is divided, and a special evange- 
list, with his helpers, are appointed for each district. 

197 


198 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


If the campaign is county-wide, the cities, towns, 
and villages are used as centers of operation. 

Sometimes the churches of a given community or 
city, launch out in a general campaign in which the 
pastors or visiting pastors do the preaching. Each 
church has its own services and plans, but all are 
engaged in the work of evangelism at the same time. 
Such a concerted effort is bound to be productive of 
much good. Certain denominations have often felt 
the need of concerted effort on the part of the 
churches of that denomination and have very suc- 
cessfully put on city-wide and county-wide simul- 
taneous campaigns. The Home Mission Board of 
the Southern Baptist Convention has an Evange- 
listic Staff of sane, capable evangelists who are 
rendering an invaluable service to the denomination 
along this line. 

2. The Centralized City Campaign. In this type 
of campaign one central meeting is held for the 
entire city in a large church building, public audi- 
torium, tent or specially constructed tabernacle. 
D. L. Moody, Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, Gipsy Smith, 
and Billy Sunday have been the outstanding leaders 
in popularizing this type of campaign. It was the 
writer’s privilege to work with Mr. Sunday and his 
party through the Cincinnati campaign, and simple 
justice forces him to say that the campaign did for 
Cincinnati and surrounding cities a lasting good. 

He did not always agree with Mr. Sunday’s 
methods, nor did he agree with all that he said, but 
he is firmly convinced that he is God’s man, doing 


COOPERATIVE EVANGELISM 199 


on a marvelous scale God’s work in the world. He 
also feels that much of the criticism against Mr. 
Sunday and his methods is both groundless and un- 
just. Making due allowances for all of his short 
comings and eccentricities he is without question 
one of the greatest preachers of all time and the 
greatest soul-winner since the days of the Apostle 
Paul. 
THE ORGANIZATION 


The organization in these centralized campaigns 
is usually very simple and yet very complete—es- 
pecially is this true of Mr. Sunday’s organization. 
It is so complete that it reaches every phase of city 
life and turns all eyes and thoughts toward the great 
tabernacle. No class is overlooked or neglected. 
The work, before the campaign starts and after it 
begins, is directed by the following committees: 


Executive Committee Finance Committee 
Publicity Committee Devotional Committee 
Music Committee Usher Committee 
Building Committee Canvassing Committee 


Offering Committee 


The central meeting should, of course, be held in 
the most convenient and accessible place. This ques- 
tion has to be decided in the light of local conditions. 
The question of a place to meet, or building, is a 
matter of vital importance. Those who have had 
the most experience in great Central Campaigns 
favor the temporary wooden tabernacle. The taber- 
nacle has many things in its favor. 


200 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


1. It can be built to accommodate any size 
crowd. It is hard to find a church building large 
enough to accommodate the throngs who will attend 
a great central meeting. 

2. Itis easy to speak in. The accoustic proper 
ties are always good in a tabernacle of the Sunday 
type. Public Auditoriums and tents are usually 
hard to speak in. 

3. The seating facilities can be arranged to the 
best advantage. There are no galleries or noisy 
opera chairs to contend with in the tabernacle. 

4. The saw-dust floor is free from noise and 
conducive to order. 

5. The tabernacle itself is both an advertise- 
ment and a drawing card. The building of such a 
structure advertises the campaign and gets people to 
talking about it. In the Cincinnati campaign hun- 
dreds of people went daily, to see the tabernacle, in 
the course of construction. Too, people will attend 
the tabernacle that could never be gotten inside of a 
church building by any sort of means. Many such 
people are converted at the tabernacle and after- 
wards line up with the churches and become splen- 
did workers. 

6. Such tabernacles' are inexpensive, and the 
lumber can always be sold to a good advantage after 
the campaign is over. 

7. Additions, if necessary, are easily and quick- 
ly made. The tabernacle was enlarged twice during 
the Cincinnati campaign without calling off a single 
service. 


COOPERATIVE EVANGELISM 201 


8. The ventilation is ideal. The air is never 
stuffy in a Sunday tabernacle. 


ADVANTAGES OF THE UNION CAMPAIGN. 


That there are some advantages in a great co-op- 
erative campaign no thinking person will doubt. 
There are also some disadvantages, but just here 
we are concerned with the advantages. They are as 
follows: 


1. Such acampaign attracts the attention of the 
whole community. It catches the public eye. The 
public press in big headlines gives full publicity to 
it because it is of general interest to the whole com- 
munity. Extracts, and ofttimes whole sermons are 
published. Soon everybody knows about it and the 
majority of the people are talking about it. The 
revival is the theme of general conversation. 

2. It makes a deeper and wider impression on 
the community than any single church could possi- 
bly make. There is a mighty inspiration in numbers 
regardless of what some may say or think. Cer- 
tainly we are not to trust in numbers, nor depend 
on numbers alone, but any preacher knows that 
there is an inspiration in a big audience. The great 
throngs that attend a city-wide effort make a lasting 
impression on the community. 

3. Christian people get acquainted and learn to 
love each other better. Prejudice and petty jealousy 
are removed, and real, genuine fellowship is pro- 
moted. 

4, Such a campaign presents a united front to 


202 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


the forces of evil. Great moral and civic reforms 
are often brought about. Many towns and cities in 
this country voted dry as a result of Mr. Sunday’s 
campaigns. The Devil and his crowd have won 
many a victory because the forces of righteousness 
would not work together. We are not advocating 
denominational unity but simply Christian co-opera- 
tion. Christian unity or organic unity will never 
come until all denominations are willing to unite on 
a plain New Testament basis, and it seems we are a 
long way from that time. But we can co-operate, at 
times, for the mutual] advantage of all. 

_ § The central campaign attracts and reaches 
people who never go to church, and who would not 
be reached by a local church campaign. Many such 
people were won during the Billy Sunday Campaign 
in Cincinnati and are now useful members of the 
churches. 

6. The general campaign will sustain interest 
much longer than a local church campaign. People 
will attend for weeks, and in some cases for two 
months, without losing interest. ‘‘Hight weeks will 
often accomplish four times as much as would have 
been accomplished in four weeks.”—Biederwolf. 


CRITICISM. 


This form of evangelism has always been under 
fire, and especially in recent years. Much of the 
criticism has been just and some of it unjust. All 
will admit that we have had too much cheap, clap- 
trap, good-for-nothing sham, called evangelism. 


COOPERATIVE EVANGELISM 203 


It has been evangelism in name only. Evangel- 
ism has suffered greatly at the hands of little, two- 
by-four, half-baked men. Much of it has been com- 
mercialized, and not a little of it vaudevillized. Too 
many evangelists have been more concerned about 
publicity and numbers than about spiritual results. 
All of this and more can truthfully be said to the 
shame of modern evangelism. It will no doubt prove 
helpful in this connection to study some of the well 
balanced criticisms against Modern Evangelism. 

“Modern evangelism makes much of numbers, 
parading statistics, and often with reckless mode of 
reckoning. It is easy to secure a show of numbers, 
but such numerical estimates are very deceptive and 
misleading. If superficial means be adopted; if peo- 
ple are encouraged to think that some simple out- 
ward act or step carries merit or brings salvation; 
or if in any way there is a carnal appeal to the hope 
of some self advantage, there will be a ready re- 
sponse. Sometimes an evangelist promises to all 
who sign his converts’ roll some helpful book of his 
own. Even such promise, however unselfish on his 
part, he has to guard carefully, lest some give their 
names for what they get. And the more spiritual a 
man’s methods are, and the more exalted his con- 
ception of his work, the less he will rely upon appar- 
ent results or make a show of numerical success.” 
—A. T. Pierson. 

“My first criticism of present-day evangelism, 
if I may use so strong a word as criticism, is of its 
too spectacular methods. Whole campaigns are not 


204 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


infrequently conducted with as much regard to the 
effect produced upon the outside public mind as 
would be done by a circus or a theater show. If I 
mistake not, the word PUBLICITY as now so often 
used in the sense of advertising is of the evangelist’s 
coining. But be that as it may, a publicity commit- 
tee or agent is too often supposed to be one of the 
first requisites of a successful evangelistic campaign 
period. 

In not a few cases the secular press is practically 
subsidized, not only by the expenditure of dispropor- 
tionate sums in advertising, but by inducing report- 
ers, by one means or another, to write up sensational 
accounts of the meetings and give them striking 
head-lines and abundant illustrations. Prominent 
names are sought for the committee lists; society 
women, who are not always interested in church but 
fond of notoriety, are persuaded to open their homes 
for parlor meetings; torches, brass bands, proces- 
sions, newspaper cuts, slumming parties—these are 
but a few of the spectacular means and methods 
sometimes resorted to.”—-John Bascom Shaw. 

Dr. Charles L. Godell, in his book, “Pastoral and 
Personal Evangelism,’ has the following to say: 
“The question of union evangelistic services is an 
open one. There is much to be said in favor of a 
movement that shall interest all the churches in a 
community in some general religious effort. If 
properly conducted, the churches are brought nearer 
together, pastors and members become better ac- 
quainted with one another, and the town or city is 


COOPERATIVE EVANGELISM 205 


edified to see their united front in aggressive spirit- 
ual work. I have frequently known of movements 
for civic righteousness which have resulted from 
union services. During the last few years many 
cities have been greatly moved towards God by un- 
ion services conducted by accredited evangelists. 
The results which have attended them, so far as the 
general community was concerned, would seem to 
be much greater than would have resulted under 
more limited services in individual churches. The 
public press gives notices of the services and prints 
extracts from the sermons. People who do not go 
to church have their curiosity aroused and frequent- 
ly are led to attend these meetings to their lasting 
benefit. All this and much more can truthfully be 
said in favor of union evangelistic meetings. 

‘“‘As a matter of fact, however, the most success- 
ful meetings I have known in the number of conver- 
sions and actual additions to the membership of the 
churches have not been union meetings. In the union 
services the sense of personal responsibility on the 
part of pastor and members seems to be lessened. It 
is very easy to shirk a general duty. There is al- 
ways the feeling that somebody else will do the 
work, and that somebody else is quite as responsible 
as are we for the success of the enterprise. The 
writer once received an invitation to hold union ser- 
vices from a committee representing sixty churches 
in a great city. He was promised an audience room 
that would hold 3,000 people, and assured of the 
sympathy and support of the sixty pastors. He was 


206 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


unable to undertake the work and wrote to the com- 
mittee, making this suggestion: If your sixty pastors 
will each hold special meetings in his own church, if 
only a hundred persons are present at each service, 
that will make, in the aggregate, 6,000 people, at 
least, twice aS many as you would have in your 
union service, and if sixty pastors, drawing their 
official men about them, will give themselves wholly 
to this special work, each in his own church, among 
those whom he personally knows, and the responsi- 
bility for whose salvation rests in a special manner 
upon him, we are persuaded that the number of con- 
versions will be many times greater, and the addi- 
tions to the several churches will be greatly increas- 
ed over that which would result from general ser- 
vives, and a sense of personal victory and blessing 
will abide with every church, which would be impos- 
sible under the other conditions. I am persuaded 
-that a great element in spiritual victory is that the 
church and pastor must feel in some way that they 
are dependent solely upon God and themselves. If 
success does not come no one can be blamed but 
themselves. The battle ison. There are no reserves 
to be called up. Itis a fight to the finish, and victory 
will be theirs if only they will do their full duty. 
There can be no defeat if they will follow God fully 
as did Caleb. The purpose of this book throughout, 
is an appeal to the individual church and pastor and 
member. 

‘“‘Here must lie the victory. It is the crux of the 
whole situation. The sooner we are ready to pay the 


COOPERATIVE EVANGELISM 207 


price, the sooner we shall win. There area few ac- 
credited evangelists in our country. They are kept 
busy all the time, and could multiply themselves in- 
definitely, if only they were able to do it, but they 
can be in but one place at a time. Only a score of 
cities at the most can expect to have the advantage 
of their services in any given year. What is to 
become of the thousands of cities that cannot secure 
them? If the work of Christ in America depends 
upon these men, great and powerful as they are, and 
honored of God as they unquestionably are in the 
winning of men, there will yet be awful dearth of 
spiritual interest, and evil forces will gain victories 
throughout the length and breadth of our land. The 
only hope in the winning of our land to Christ rests 
upon the individual pastor and the individual 
church. If we can have a hundred thousand pastors 
who are inspired of God and yield themselves to His 
holy purposes, and if only a score of members were 
to join each of them in uttermost devotion, this 
would give us a power in every town and city which 
would be simply irresistable. While admitting all 
that can be said in favor of union services, we still 
insist upon the individual pastor and the individual 
church cultivating their own field as the ideal of 
CEriavuve service and the center of seibonaapnie 
power.” 

In his splendid book, “Normal Evangelism,” Rev. 
O. O. Green says: “Our plea is for normal evangel- 
ism; for more reliance upon earnest prayer, faith- 
ful preaching of the Word, the leading of the Holy 


208 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


Spirit, persistent personal effort, and less reliance 
upon the evangelist with his clap-trap methods. 

“Evangelists have no doubt done a great deal of 
good but in many cases it is some good, plus or minus 
so much harm. God has raised up great evangelists 
to meet the need of the time and they have wrought 
nobly. In most cases their work was to fill up the 
gap, so to speak, which had been made by the neglect 
of pastors and churches to discharge their obligation 
to the unsaved world. It is quite evident that God 
never intended to save the world through the minis- 
try of great evangelists or He would not have made 
so few of them. Here and there along through the 
ages God has raised up a Wesley, a Whitefield, a 
Finney, a Moody, a Torrey, a Gypsy Smith, to meet 
& pressing need and to show what He can do with 
a life that surrenders itself fully to Him. What He 
has done for these men He will in a large measure 
do for all His servants. ‘“‘Power belongeth unto 
God.” Therefore, let the people of God everywhere 
have a vision of a redeemed world through the 
service of Spirit-filled ministers and aroused 
churches; and then let them quicken their pace to- 
wards the goal of victory. 

“Let no one think that this chapter is meant to 
be a wholesale condemnation of evangelists. Our 
chief aim has been to point out some of the defects 
of modern evangelism: in the following pages it 
shall be our purpose to show “a more excellent way.” 
No doubt some one will say: “You must have had 
some very unpleasant experiences with evangelists.” 


COOPERATIVE EVANGELISM 209 


No, such is not the case, for I have never had a pro- 
fessional evangelist to aid me in a meeting. My in- 
formation has been gathered by a study of this 
question for several years. There are evangelists, 
however, on whom I would not hesitate to call if con- 
ditions were such that their assistance were needed. 
There are evangelists and evangelists. There are 
some brethren who are giving their whole time to 
the work of evangelism who might be technically 
called ‘“‘professional evangelists,’ yet who are not 
because they do not bear the marks of professional- 
ism. Some of these brethren have been pastors and 
avoid the objectional features of modern evangelism ; 
they are able to render valuable assistance to 
churches and pastors needing assistance, and many 
of them are qualified to carry on the work of the 
pioneer in opening new fields and in establishing 
new churches. There are some who are safe, sane, 
and sound; then there are some who are otherwise; 
the otherwise are the ones whom we should guard 
against. It is not the passing of the evangelist that 
is desired so much as the passing of his professional- 
ism. The evangelist in the true sense is needed; but 
his professionalism is not needed in any sense.” 


SOME CONCLUSIONS 


After a thorough study of this whole question of 
Cooperative Evangelism we are forced by deep con- 
viction to make the following conclusions: 

‘1. The history of evangelism shows conclusively 
that God has set his approval upon, and blessed in a 


210 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


marvelous way, Union or Cooperative Evangelism. 
God has honored it, whether we believe in it or not. 
Anyone who will take the time to study the great 
soul-winning movements of Whitefield, Wesley, 
Finney, Nettleton, Moody, Sam Jones, Chapman, 
Sunday and Gypsy Smith is bound to be convinced 
of the truth of the above statement. 

2. That this form of evangelism has made great 
spiritual and numerical contributions to the churches 
no one, acquainted with the facts, can doubt. Dead 
churches by the thousands, through the years, have 
been quickened and vast armies of recruits have 
been added to the fold. Dr. W. E. Biederwolf says, 
“Such evangelism however, deserves much credit 
even as the case stands, for not a little of it has been 
remarkably sane and thorough and efficient and has 
brought to the church, as any candid investigator 
will cheerfully admit, a goodly portion of her 
numerical increase across the years that have gone.”’ 

3. We are not to depend on Great Co-operative 
Campaigns and Special Evangelists to do the work 
of the churches. They are oniy to supplement and 
reinforce the work of the churches, at times and 
seasons, when the general situation demands united 
effort. The frequency of such campaigns will de- 
pend largely on the aggressiveness, or laxity, of the 
churches. If the churches are alive and aggressive 
such campaigns will be few and far between. On 
the other hand, if the churches become lax, careless, 
and indifferent, they will be needed oftener. They 


COOPERATIVE EVANGELISM 211 


will be needed in proportion to the aggressiveness 

of the churches. 

4, Whenever evangelism of this type is under 
fire the fault usually lies with the Evangelist. There- 
fore, in seeking an evangelist we should seek one— 
(1). Who comes well recommended ; 

' (2). Who has been honored of God; 

(3). Who preaches the whole Bible, a full Gospel, 
without fear or favor; 

(4). Who is in sympathy with the pastor and his 
task ; 

(5). Who upholds the church as a divine institution. 
Such a man can condemn the sins of the church 
without bringing the church into disrepute; 

(6). Whose methods are above reproach; 

(7). Who preaches Christ, and not himself; 

(8). Who preaches regeneration, instead of refor- 
mation ; 

(9). Who is more concerned for souls than mem- 
bers; 

(10). Whose ambitions are spiritual, rather than 
Commercial. 

Such a man will be an incalculable blessing to 
any community and his work will abide. D. L. Moody 
was such a man, and he furnishes a splendid example 
for the evangelists of all time to follow. 

There will always be a place and a work for the 
sane, consecrated, prepared, Spirit filled, God called, 
general evangelist. 


CHAPTER XI. 
MUSIC IN EVANGELISM 


“Come before his presence with singing,” (Ps. 
100 :2). 

“Be filled with the Spirit: speaking to yourselves 
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing 
and making melody in your heart to the Lord,” (Eph. 
5:19). 

The history of music is an interesting story. 
Music had its origin in the heart of God, possibly, 
“When the morning stars sang together, and all the 
sons of God shouted for joy,” (Job. 38:7). God 
put music in the human heart, and all down the ages 
the songs of the heart have been sung to the world. 
They sang in the time of Moses: “Then sang Moses 
and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord,”’ 
(Exodus 15:1) ; “Then Israel sang this song, Spring 
up, O well, sing ye unto it,’ (Numbers 21:17). 
Deborah and Barak sang in the period of the Judges: 
“Then sang Deborah and Barak,” (Judges 5:1). In 
the period of the Kings we read of harps, singers, 
psalteries, etc., (1 Kings 10:12). David was not 
only a great harper and singer, but wrote most of 
the Psalms—the hymn book of the Jews. Music 
played a large part in the services and worship of 
the ancient temple, and it should have a large and 
worthy place in every Christian temple today. Good 
music is both Scriptural and Christian. Jesus and 

212 


MUSIC IN EVANGELISM 213 


the early disciples sang around the Lord’s table in 
that memorable upper room, and we read, ‘‘When 
they had sung an hymn they went out into the Mount 
of Olives,” (Matt. 26:30). Paul and Silas started 
a revival in a jail at midnight by singing and pray- 
ing. “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and 
sang praises unto God; and the prisoners heard 
them,” (Acts 16:25). Paul exhorts the Ephesians 
to, “Be filled with the Spirit: speaking to yourselves 
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing 
and making melody in your heart to the Lord,” 
(Eph. 5:18, 19). 

There has been a marvelous development in 
Gospel music since the days of the Apostles. Eu- 
sebius tells us that St. Mark taught the first Egyp- 
tian Christians how to chant their prayers. Chry- 
sostom claims that the Apostles wrote the first Chris- 
tian hymns. Romanus informs us that the twenty- 
third psalm was usually chanted at the evening 
meal as early as the time of St. Paul. Tertullian 
tells us in his Apologia that when the water was 
passed around for the washing of hands, each one 
of the company was asked in turn to praise God in 
song, and the selection could be taken from the 
Scriptures or improvised. The chanting of canticles, 
psalms, and Scripture was most likely borrowed 
from the Hebrews. St. Ambrose led the reform 
which gave emphasis to the rythmical hymn. Gre- 
gory the Great, pope from 590 to 604, collected all the 
church music of his day, added hymns and invented 
the anthem. He also invented and laid out the 


214 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


scale from a fifth to a fourth. These intervals were 
supposed to be essential to any correct composing. 
This of course was found later to be a great mistake. 

Franco, a monk of Cologne, wrote the first book 
on measured or timed music, in the tenth century. 
Time signatures began to appear about 1378, and 
the first book containing notes and time signatures, 
was printed in 1495 by Ralph Higdon in England. 
The notes used in this book were square. The first 
book containing round notes was printed in France 
in 15382, and yet, one hundred and fifty years passed 
before another with round notes appeared. 

Harmonic music dates from the year 1700. 
Giovanni Monteverde contributed the modern style 
of composition and a system of harmony which has 
continued without interruption to the present time. 

In the evolution of church music, especially 
Gospel music, we find such names as Charles Wesley, 
William Billings, Lowell Mason, William B. Brad- 
bury, L. O. Emerson, George F. Root, P. P. Bliss, 
George C. Stebbins, Fanny Crosby, and a score of 
writers of the Moody and Sankey regime. These 
were the real originators of the modern Gospel song. 
They simplified and made singing popular with the 
masses. 

In the field of evangelism Charles Wesley and 
Ira D. Sankey blazed the path and.led the way. 
Following in their path we have such names as 
Alexander, Rodeheaver, Butler, Scholfield, Hughes, 
and scores of others who deserve to be mentioned 
if space permitted. The story of Gospel singing is 


MUSIC IN EVANGELISM 215 


a wonderful story. The history of Christianity is, 
in a large measure, a history of song. All of the 
great revivals of Christian history have been ac- 
companied by singing. Christianity, is a singing 
religion, and a songless revival is an unknown 
quantity among soul-winners. Gospel music, of the 
right sort, has ever been the true handmaid of evan- 
gelism. All of the great soul-winners of earth have 
known full well the value of soul-stirring music. 
Moody did, and for this reason took with him as his 
life long partner the great and beloved Ira D. 
Sankey; Torry girdled the globe with Alexander, 
and Sunday and Rodeheaver have become as one in 
their great evangelistic campaigns. Who then can 
- doubt the value of Gospel music in winning the lost 
world to Christ? 


THE VALUE OF GOSPEL MUSIC 


1. It prepares the congregation in heart and 
mind for the preacher’s message. Such preparation 
as only music can give is absolutely essential to any 
far reaching evangelism. There is nothing that will 
stir and warm up a congregation like Gospel singing. 

2. It stirs and fires the preacher’s soul so that 
he can deliver his message in the most effective 
manner. It is almost impossible for a preacher to 
do his best and get the best results without the aid 
of a soul-stirring and soul-moving song service. 
Every preacher in the world, who has had any ex- 
perience at all, knows the value of a good song 
service. 


216 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


3. Gospel Music supplements the preacher’s 
message and helps bring lost men to dectsion. Look 
back into your experience as you read these lines. 
What sinner, now saved by grace, has not felt and 
heard the heart call of—“Softly and Tenderly Jesus 
is calling;’ “Only Trust Him;” “Just As I Am 
Without One Plea;” “Almost Persuaded,” and scores 
of others that could be mentioned? The preacher 
preached, the Holy Spirit convicted, but it took the 
old song to help you to action and final decision. God 
in heaven, alone, knows the power of music in 
evangelism. 

IMPORTANT ESSENTIALS 

There are some things absolutely essential to the 
best results in Gospel music. 

1. A good song leader, who knows the Lord, and 
who knows his art is the first essential. A good 
leader is the real key to good singing. 

2. A consecrated, trained accompanist is just as 
essential as a good leader. An accompanist at the 
organ or piano who cannot do the job is an abomi- 
nation, desolation in any revival. 

3. Just as important as a good accompanist is a 
good, well tuned instrument. The best accompanist 
cannot make good music on an instrument out of 
tune. It is now the consensus of opinion among 
Gospel song leaders that a piano is far better than 
an organ for evangelistic services. 

4. The chorus platform is another important 
matter too often overlooked in church architecture. 
This platform should be large enough for a good 


MUSIC IN EVANGELISM 217 


chorus, built in proportion to the size of the audi- 
torium, near the pulpit, and in right relation to the 
audience. The elevation should begin about on a 
level with the pulpit platform, and rise step by step, 
so that each row of singers is in piain view of the 
audience. The arrangement of the chorus platform 
in the Billy Sunday tabernacles, and in the Grace 
Temple Baptist Church, Philadelphia, where Dr. 
Russell H. Conwell is pastor, offer splendid models 
in chorus platform construction. The singing evan- 
gelist will find it necessary in many cases to erect 
a temporary platform suitable for evangelistic 
purposes. 

5. The pastor, officers, and congregation must 
all cooperate in every possible way if the music of 
the church is to honor Christ and sweep lost souls 
into the Kingdom. The Gospel song-leader will be 
hampered and handicapped in all of his efforts un- 
less he has the full cooperation of the church. Great 
evangelistic opportunities have been lost forever 
because of lack of cooperation here. 

6. The Song Book is an important essential too 
often overlooked. The hymn book to be used in 
evangelistic services should be selected with great 
care, weeks in advance of the coming revival, by a 
committee competent to judge. This committee 
should not only select the best possible book to be 
had, but should order enough to meet the demand on 
all occasions. The average church hasn’t half 
enough hymn books. The wise church will see to it 
that every person in the audience has a book. 


218 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


EVANGELISTIC SONGS 
The songs sung in the regular services of many 
churches are not suitable for evangelistic services. 

Songs best suited for the great work of soul-winning 

must have some outstanding characteristics: 

1. They must have the evangelistic note—the woo- 
ing note. 

2. They must have a message for the sinful human 
heart. 

3. They must be true to Scriptural teaching. 

4. They must be spiritual. 

5. They should be God-honoring. The song that 
doesn’t honor God has no place in a revival 
service. 

6. They should be soul-stirring. 

They should be Heaven-lifting. 

8. They must be songs that will lead to action and 
decision. 


= 


THE SONG LEADER 

The real key to success in evangelistic singing is 
the song leader or singing evangelist. If the best 
results are to be obtained this key man must possess 
some important qualifications: 

1. He needs first of all to know Christ as his 
Saviour and Lord. The man who doesn’t know 
Jesus, who hasn’t been born from above, is certainly 
not qualified to lead Gospel music. How can the 
blind lead the blind? 

2. He must know his art—know music. No man 
can teach others the thing he himself does not know. 


MUSIC IN EVANGELISM 219 


The cause of Gospel-song-leading has often been 
hurt by half-baked, would be song leaders. 

3. The successful song leader needs to know 
folks. He should be a diligent student of crowd 
psychology, and the best place in the world to learn 
it, is before an audience. 

We have seen good men fail and go down in de- 
feat because they didn’t know folks—plain, every- 
day, human beings. | 

4. Tact is another important qualification. It 
takes tact to handle choirs, and crowds. 

5. Close akin to tact is good old common. sense— 
the most uncommon sense of all. To know what to 
do, and what not to do, is of the highest importance. 

The wise leader of song will study daily what to 
do, when to do it, and how to doit. It means every- 
thing in a revival service to say the right word, at 
the right time, and to sing the right song, in the 
right place. The man who can do this is far on the 
road to success. 

6. The singing evangelist should know his sphere. 
It is not his mission to preach, pull vaudeville 
stunts, nor to waste half of his time talking about 
things that have no relation to the song service. He 
is employed to sing, and lead others to sing, and all 
that he does and says should have a vital relation 
to the song service. If he leads the singing well he 
will create a spiritual atmosphere and prepare the 
hearts of the hearers for the message of the 
preacher, or preaching evangelist. Glorious is his 
mission, wonderful is his opportunity, and great 


220 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


will be his reward, if he stays within his sphere and 
gives himself without stint to his work. 

7. He should master the fine art of cooperation. 
The successful Gospel song-leader must work with 
others. He has to work with choirs, congregations 
pastors, and the preaching-evangelist. It takes 
religion, patience, tact, and common sense to work 
with so many classes, types, and dispositions. But 
cooperation is necessary to the highest success. 
There must be cooperation and understanding be- 
tween the singing evangelist and the preaching 
evangelist. These two, by setting a good example, 
can usually leaven the whole lump and secure team- 
work all along the line 

8. The great leader of song will be a great 
lover of souls. No man can expect to be used of God 
who doesn’t love lost souls. Sankey and Alexander 
had an undying love, and a consuming passion, for 
a lost world. They were greatly used because they 
so greatly loved. 

A CRYING NEED 

One of the greatest needs of the hour is for more 
Gospel-Song Leaders who know the Lord, know 
music, and know how to teach and lead others. This 
phase of Christian work has been neglected all too 
long. It is a sad fact that our Christian schools, 
colleges, universities, and seminaries have failed so 
signally along this line. Moody Bible Institute is 
the only outstanding Christian school in America 
that has given the proper emphasis to the training 
of Gospel-Song-Leaders, until very recently. We 


MUSIC IN EVANGELISM 221 


are glad to note that some of our Christian colleges 
and seminaries have caught the vision and are 
establishing chairs in this important department. 
No curriculum, in a Christian school, can claim to 
be complete without a department of Gospel music. 
We must look to our Christian school to furnish 
leaders in every department of Christian work. 
Our Summer Assemblies, Conferences, Conventions, 
Bible Institutes, etc., should give more attention to 
the musical phase of Christian service. This age is 
demanding the best men we can produce to fill our 
pulpits, and the same age is demanding our best in 
the realm of Gospel music. Let us open our ears to 
the call of our Christ and the cry of the age, and pro- 
duce a generation that will sing with the Psalmist of 
old, “I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will 
sing praise to my God while I have being,” (Ps. 
104 :383). 


CHAPTER XII. 
METHODS IN EVANGELISM 


“Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless 
as doves,” (Matt. 10:16). 

The writer has already dealt with the question 
of methods in some of the chapters of this book, but 
there are yet some important things to be added. 
The question of methods is a big and unsettled 
question, and will be discussed no doubt until the 
end of time. Yet, we must have methods. No worth- 
while work can be done, along any line,- without 
methods. The way a man does a thing is his method, 
be it right or wrong, good or bad. The man who 
says we do not need methods in the work of evange- 
lism has never stopped to think. We must have 
methods, but not the wrong kind of methods. 
It is our duty not to decry methods, but to seek the 
best methods. We should always be looking for a 
“more excellent way” to do our Master’s work. 

It is too bad that we have to confess that the 
work of evangelism has often been hurt and 
cheapened by the use of questionable methods. 
Such methods fill the churches with unsaved people 
and make lasting and permanent results impossible. 
No method should be used that is not in accord with 
scriptural teaching and in keeping with the dignity 
of the Christian religion. Cheap and high-pressure 
methods all too often cause people to respond to 

222 


METHODS IN EVANGELISM 223 


invitations they do not understand and act on pro- 
positions with no conviction of sin whatsoever. The 
soul-winner should remember in this connection the 
pertinent words of the apostle Paul who said, “What- 
soever is not of faith is sin, (Rom. 14:23). Itisa 
sin to bring people into the churches devoid of con- 
viction, and ignorant of saving faith. What could 
be more tragic? We need to go back to New Testa- 
ment methods more and more in our soul-saving 
work. Charles Hadden Spurgeon once said, “‘It is 
not our way of putting the gospel, nor our method 
of illustrating it which wins souls, but the gospel 
itself does the work in the hands of the Holy Spirit, 
and to Him we must look for the thorough con- 
version of men.” “Not by might, nor by power, 
but by my spirit, saith the Lord,” (Zech. 4:6). 

The crying need of the hour is not so much for 
a man with a method, but a man with a message. 
The man with a real message from God usually has 
the right method to accompany his message. Great 
messages and sane methods always go together. 


TESTING METHODS 

A few simple suggestions here may prove help- 
ful in selecting methods. 

1. No method should be used which is contrary 
to the spirit and teaching of the Scriptures. 

2. No method should be used that doesn’t honor 
God and bring glory to his cause. 

3. No method should be used that doesn’t get 
lasting and permanent results. 


224 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


4. No method should be used that brings 
reproach upon the worker and the work. 

5. No method should be used that cheapens 
Christianity and lowers the dignity of the Christian 
religion. 

6. No method should be used as an end in itself. 
Methods are simply means to an end, and that end 
is the salvation of men. Our methods should be 
flexible, and should vary to meet the needs of the 
hour. 

THE EVANGELISTIC SERMON 

The evangelistic sermon has been defined as a 
sermon “out after a soul.” It is a sermon that pro- 
vokes a crisis in a man’s life. It is so simple and 
practical that the plainest man present can under- 
stand it, and so persistent in its appeal that the 
most indifferent cannot easily resist its power. Its 
sole aim is the salvation of men. All sermons worthy 
of the name should be, and will be evangelistic, at 
least in spirit. There can be no substitute for 
evangelistic preaching in the great work of soul- 
winning. y 

Mr. Spurgeon in one of his great lectures to 
preachers once said, “In the great day when the 
muster roll shall be read of all those who are con- 
verted through fine music, and church decoration, 
and religious exhibitions and entertainments, they 
will amount to the tenth part of nothing; but it will 
always please God by the foolishness of preaching 
to save them that believe. Keep to your preaching, 
and if you do anything beside, do not let it throw 


METHODS OF EVANGELISM 225 


your preaching in the background. In the first 
place preach, and in the second place preach. Go 
on; go on; in God’s name, go on, for if the preaching 
of the gospel does not save men, nothing will. If the 
Lord,s own way of mercy fails, then hang the skies 
in mourning, and blot out the sun in everlasting 
midnight for there remaineth nothing before our 
race but the blackness of darkness. Salvation by 
the sacrifice of Jesus is the ultimatum of God. Re- 
joice that it cannot fail. Let us believe without re- 
serve, then go straight ahead with the preaching 
of the word. That which is to be preached is the 
cross. It is at the cross where the burden of the 
heart rolls away. Therefore, the preacher should 
always sound long and loud the note that, “God so 
loved the world that he gave his only hecotten Son 
that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish 
but have everlasting life,” (John 3:16). Brother, 
keep to that. Thatis the bell for you toring. Ring 
it, man! Ring it! Keep on ringing it. Sound 
forth that note upon your silver trumpet, or if you 
are only a ram’s horn, sound it forth, and the walls 
of Jericho will come down.” 


MARKS OF THE EVANGELISTIC SERMON 


1. It must come from an evangelistic heart, be 
prepared by an evangelistic mind, and be delivered 
by an evangelistic soul. 

2. It will be charged and surcharged with the 
Spirit of God. 

3. It will be nourished in heart searching prayer. 


226 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


4. It must be full of the gospel, which is the 
“nower of God unto salvation to everyone that 
believeth.” 

5. The evangelistic sermon should be brief, 
simple, direct, personal, appealing, and convincing. 

6. The true evangelistic sermon will aim for a 
verdict. A climax in evangelistic preaching is im- 
possible without definite decistons for Christ. 


DRAWING THE NET. 


There is always a strategic moment to draw the 
net, but only Christ and experience can make that 
moment known. Many good and eloquent preachers 
fail just here. They fail as evangelists because they 
do not know when, and how, to draw the net. They 
let the supreme moment pass ofttimes trying to get 
in every point, poem and illustration. Souls are 
worth more than sermons, and if white heat is 
reached before you get to that pet or climactic illus- 
tration—draw the net. Hit while the iron is hot, and 
the atmosphere is right. That illustration you didn’t 
need will keep and may come in all right next time. 
A sermon too long, or a song service unduly pro- 
longed usually proves fatal to an evangelistic service. 
A break between the closing appeal of the sermon 
and the beginning of the invitation song is an un- 
speakable tragedy too often witnessed in revival 
meetings. The song-leader and preacher should 
work in absolute harmony here, and an invitation 
song, to suit the sermon message, should be an- 
nounced before the preacher begins to speak, The 


METHODS OF EVANGELISM 227 


organist or pianist should be instructed to be at 
her place ready to strike the keyboard at the first 
signal of the song-leader or singing evangelist. 
Earnest and consecrated workers should be sta- 
tioned throughout the audience, and should be very 
much in prayer at this critical moment, and ready 
to speak the needed word to some convicted soul, 
if the spirit so directs. The right word, at the right 
time, spoken by the right person means everything 
to the struggling soul “halting between two 
opinions.”” If there is anytime when we need ex- 
perience, wisdom from above, and the direction of 
the Holy Spirit, it is when we are ready to draw 
the net for lost souls. This is the time of all times 
when we must be close to the triune God. 


THE AFTER MEETING. 


The after meeting has been mightily used of 
God by those who have known how to make the most 
of it. The after meeting coming as it does at the 
close of a great public appeal in the regular service, 
is calculated to gather up and reinforce all of the 
influences of said service by bringing the message 
of the cross, in a more direct and personal way, 
closer to the individual heart. The after meeting is 
smaller, less formal, but more direct and personal. 
It gives the evangelist and the workers direct and 
personal contact with the individual seeking light 
and salvation. It also gives the seeking soul a 
chance to ask questions and lay his case more di- 
rectly on the hearts of those who are seeking to 


228 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


lead him out of darkness into the marvelous light 
of the Son of God. Doubts are often quickly 
brushed aside, obstacles removed, and the way made 
plain by a few minutes personal contact in the after 
meeting. The purpose of the after meeting is always 
to reinforce and conserve the impressions made by 
the preaching service. It is a follow up meeting. It 
seeks to remove difficulties and bring to definite 
decision for Christ. Without the after meeting 
many earnest seekers for truth, light, and salvation 
are often turned away under deep conviction to 
drift on in their sins to final destruction. 

The time for the after meeting is immediately 
after the preaching service, usually after the even- 
ing service, tho it may be held after any service. It 
may be held in the main auditorium or in some 
special room of the church in easy access of the audi- 
torium. If it is to be held in the auditorium, urge 
all who will to stay, and especially those who are 
interested or have some difficulty. The church offi- 
cers and helpers should always be ready and willing 
to stay as the after meeting offers them an opportu- 
nity to render a real service. Those who want to 
go home should be allowed to pass out quietly while 
the organ is played softly or the congregation joins 
in the singing of some impressive and appropriate 
hymn. There must be absolute quiet and a spirit 
of reverence to have a successful after meeting. 
For this very reason a separate room close by the 
auditorium is far better than the auditorium for 
the after meeting. 


METHODS OF EVANGELISM 229 


The procedure of the after meeting is impor- 
tant, yet no hard and fast rules can be given, as no 
two after meetings can be or should be exactly alike. 
The one who does the preaching should usually pre- 
side as his soul is at white heat, and it is usually 
his message, directed by the Holy Spirit, which 
produced conviction and concern in those who re- 
main for help and guidance. If there is any point 
in the message that they, who are seeking the truth, 
did not understand, he is there to explain it, and 
reemphasize the appeal of his message. If however, 
it is impossible for the evangelist to lead the meeting 
the best available man should be had. The leader 
is the key man. The success or failure of the after 
meeting depends largely on the leader in charge. 

The meeting should be opened with a stanza or 
so of some appropriate song. The song may be 
followed by a brief prayer. Then the purpose of 
the meeting should be stated, and all present should 
be made free to express the thing that is upon his 
or her heart. There are times when all the prob- 
lems that come up can be dealt with publicly. At 
other times there may be a number present who 
need individual and personal attention. Wise, con- 
secrated workers should go to such individuals 
quietly, and in the spirit of prayer, as they are 
assigned or as they feel moved by the Holy Spirit. 
After the difficulties have been removed and the way 
of salvation has been made plain to the inquirer— 
a definite decision for Christ and the Christian life 
should be urged. The backslider present should be 


230 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


urged to come back, and the careless Christian to 
reconsecrate his life to the greatest service in the 
world—soul-winning. 

PROBLEMS OF THE AFTER MEETING. 

The workers in the after meeting will be brought 
face to face with all sorts of problems. There will 
be the problem of dealing with the Christian who 
lacks assurance; the backslider; the honest doubter ; 
the skeptic; the infidel; the excuse maker; the ig- 
norant; the universalist; the moralist, etc. It will 
take religion, common sense, tact, some knowledge 
of the Scriptures, and the guidance of the Holy 
Spirit to deal successfully with the varied classes 
and problems of the after meeting. The writer 
takes the privilege just here of suggesting three 
little books that will prove invaluable to the personal 
worker, not only in the after meeting but in all his 
efforts in trying to catch men for Christ. They 
are as follows—“How To Do Personal Work,” by 
The Journal Publishing Company, Sturgis, Michi- 
gan; “‘Rescue The Perishing,” by The Rodeheaver- 
Ackley Company, 14 W. Washington Street, Chicago, 
and ‘‘The One-To-Win-One Helper,” by Fleming H. 
Revell Company, New York. These little books are 
brief, cheap in price, and in a helpful and simple way 
show the soul-winner how to use his Bible, and to 
deal tactfully and Scripturally with all the problems 
that are likely to confront him in his work. There 
are also a number of other good books along the 
same line, but the writer prefers the ones mentioned 
as they are best suited for all practical purposes. 


METHODS OF EVANGELISM 231 


THE SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE DURING A REVIVAL. 

How best to handle the Sunday morning service 
is a big problem. In the average church, half of the 
Sunday School pupils and many of the officers and 
teachers go home as soon as the teaching service is 
over, and rarely remain for the preaching service. 
Such a situation is nothing less than a tragedy. “‘It 
has pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to 
save them that believe,’ and no church that be- 
littles the preaching service can hope to be a soul- 
‘saving institution. It is a waste of time to teach 
about Christ, unless we win to Christ. Therefore, 
every service of the church should focus on, and 
head up in, the preaching service. This is God’s 
plan and we cannot improve on it. The writer has 
tried every known plan for the solution of this 
problem, and has found but one real solution, and 
that solution is to be found in the “Combined 
Service,” rightly conducted. 

However, it is not the purpose of the author to 
discuss the combined service here. We must be 
content at this point to discuss the best way to 
handle the “Sunday Morning Service During a 
Revival.” This plan differs of necessity from the 
regular combined service which is so rapidly coming 
into favor. It is as follows: | 

1. The service of the day begins with a 9:00 A. M. 
Prayer Meeting. This should be held in the audi- 
torium of the church so that the people can join 
hands in a great circle around the room. Ushers, 
will of course, be placed at the doors to see that the 


232 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


people come in quietly, and with reverence take their 
places in the great prayer circle. When this circle 
is full, make another circle around through the 
aisles. The officers, teachers, members of the choir, 
members of the church, both young and old, should 
be urged to attend this prayer service. The writer 
has seen from 150 to 550 in such prayer meetings. 
Such a meeting must however, be planned for early 
in advance. The prayers should be short, earnest, 
sentence prayers—so that everyone in the circle will 
have a chance to pray, and most of them will pray. 
The circle plan gets people to pray who have never 
prayed before in public, and once having started in 
the good work they will likely keep it up. It will be 
found helpful to have the song leader, or someone 
who can, lead the circle now and then in singing 
with bowed heads the chorus of some good old hymn. 
The sandwiching in of these old hymns will have a 
profound and worshipful effect upon everyone 
present. Such a service as the one described will 
give inspiration, power, and a spiritual atmosphere 
to the service to follow. It will also prepare the 
preacher, and the workers for their task. This 
prayer service should close promptly at 9:30 A. M. 

2. The song service should begin at 9:30 A. M. 
—just at the close of the prayer meeting. Much 
depends on the musical director at this point, and 
the kind of songs sung. The song service should be 
lively, inspiring, and spiritual. The whole musical 
program should be conducive to soul winning. 

3. The Sermon should begin about 10:00 or 10: 


METHODS OF EVANGELISM 233 


15 A. M. The plan of the service and the time of 
the sermon, should be announced in advance so that 
everyone desiring to attend the service will know 
about it. All the officers, departments, and classes 
of the Sunday School should gather in the main 
auditorium of the church during the song service. 
Officers and teachers should sit with their pupils, 
ready to speak the needed word when the evangelis- 
tic invitation is given. The Beginners and first and 
second year Primaries should be kept in their own 
departments during this service, and some good 
story tellers should entertain them—especially after 
the lesson period is over. They should not be dis- 
missed until after the evangelistic service is over. 
Fathers, mothers, or big brothers and sisters who 
might otherwise have to look after the little ones or 
take them home, are thus left free to attend the 
evangelistic service. 

4, The evangelistic service should close at 11:00 
A. M., and never later than 11:15 A. M. It is im- 
portant to run on time, and especially in evangelis- 
tic services. 

5. The Sunday School departments and classes 
with the closing of the evangelistic service, should 
go at once to their departments and class rooms and 
make out their records for the day as usual, and then 
be dismissed. This work of getting the records for 
the day should not take more than fifteen minutes. 
Thus everyone present will be on their way home 
at 11:15 A. M. 

The lesson can be taught as usual if the Sunday 


234 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


School workers think best. It is entirely possible 
to do this, and yet get home by 12:00 o’clock. How- 
ever, the writer has found it best, in most cases, to 
dispense with the Sunday School lesson for the day. 
It is worth all it costs and more. It is better to do 
one thing well than to try to do too much. If the 
teaching through the year, has been genuine and 
true to the Book, it is sure to bear eternal fruit 
under a great evangelistic appeal. We teach to win, 
and all of our teaching is lost and in vain unless we 
win our pupils to Christ. So the true teacher is 
always willing and ready to cooperate with God’s 
evangelist to win the lost to the world’s only Savior. 

The above plan reaches more people than any 
other known to the author, and gets better results. 
It has never failed anywhere it has been given a 
chance. The writer has tried it in the country, 
small towns, large towns, and in some of the leading 
cities of our country. He has seen as many as 50, 
in single church revivals, take a stand for Christ in 
one service, and of course many times that number 
in cooperative campaigns. Where the series of 
meetings run through two Sundays or more, it is 
best to repeat the same plan each Sunday. ‘The 
more it is repeated the better it works. 


THE EVANGELISTIC CHURCH. 


A church to be evangelistic must be trained and 
organized for evangelistic work. The difference 
between an army and a mob is orgamzation. The 
church that aims at nothing usually hits nothing. 


METHODS OF EVANGELISM 235 


It is tragic for a church to drift along without any 
evangelistic goal and depend on the annual revival 
to reach the unsaved. The annual revival should be 
used only to supplement the soul-winning work that 
the church should be doing 365 days of the year. 
The organization should be very simple and yet very 
complete if the church is to really function as an 
evangelistic agency. The framework of the organi- 
zation should be somewhat as follows.— 

1. There must be an evangelistic pastor. The 
evangelistic pastor makes the evangelistic church. 
His soul should be literally on fire for lost souls. “I 
am willing to spend and be spent for your souls” 
expresses the consuming passion of every true 
pastor. 

2. The officers of the church should be taught 
and enlisted in soul-winning. A: church officer who 
doesn’t love souls and try to win them to the Chris- 
tian life should resign. He is in the wrong place. 
The church has suffered too long and too much at 
the hands of little men with no vision, and no passion 
for a lost world. “Here am I, send me,” is the will- 
ing answer of every true officer to the call of Christ. 
The most valuable officer in any church is the one 
who is most dependable. He is the one upon whom 
Christ can rely in every needy hour. The officer 
who loves Christ and lost souls will be always ready 
and willing to enlist, and rally around his pastor in 
the great work of soul-winning. He will also be 
willing and ready to study and learn more about 
the finest of all arts—the art of soul-winning. 


236 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


3. The evangelistic church will have an evange- 
listic committee. This committee should be composed 
of the pastor, at least one member of the official 
board, and one member from every organization of 
the church. This committee will study the best 
methods in evangelism, arrange an annua] personal 
workers class or course, divide the territory sur- 
rounding the church into sections with personal 
workers in each section, make an every member 
canvass to get a line on the lost, backsliders etc., 
distribute tracts with a message to the lost, arrange 
for the best time for the annual revival, see that the 
church has a sufficient number of good, evangelistic 
song books, and cooperate with the pastor in every 
possible way to make every service evangelistic and 
the church an evangelistic institution. 

4. Every organization of the church should be 
organized for soul-winning, and taught the spirit 
and message of true evangelism. The Sunday School, 
missionary organizations, young people’s organiza- 
tions, etc., should be taught that the first business of 
the church, with all its machinery, is to win souls. 
The church that doesn’t win souls is really no better 
than a club or a lodge. No church can live long and 
live well that doesn’t win souls. The writer has 
seen, time and again in his own pastorate, cover- 
sions in the Sunday School and in the young people’s 
organizations. This is as it should be, and must be, 
if our churches are to be evangelistic. 

5. The men of the church should be organized 
in groups for soul-winning. These groups may be 


METHODS OF EVANGELISM 237 


smal] at first but under the proper direction they 
will grow in numbers, interest, and efficiency. Men 
can win men when they go at it in the right way. 
Men organize and work together in business and 
they will do it in kingdom business if properly led. 
The writer has seen men leave their places of busi- 
ness and meet, at a certain hour every day for weeks, 
in the directors room of a bank or in some business 
house for prayer and to exchange lists containing 
names of the unsaved, and then go out and spend 
hours in personal work. He has also seen men come 
by the scores to men’s meeting just before the 
regular service and plan, pray, and talk to the lost 
men present about their souls, and then go into the 
regular service, and sit among the unsaved so at 
the proper time they could quietly speak the word 
needed to bring to definite decision for Christ. 
When men go after men in the right spirit and in 
the right way something is sure to happen. Men 
can best win men. Women and children may help, 
but winning men is a man’s job. 

6. The women should also be organized. Jesus 
used the women, and so did Paul. The truth is, 
most of the personal work that is done in the average 
church is done by the good women. The women 
should be organized and given definite work to do— 
definite people to see. Sometimes it is best for them 
to go two and two, and at other times it is best to 
go alone. There are also cases where it may be wise 
for a whole group of good women to go and have a 
prayer meeting in the home. Sometimes it is best 


238 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


to have a different one call each day until a decision 
for Christ is made. 

7. The young people should be definitely organ- 
ized for evangelistic work. Young people can best 
win young people; chums can best win chums, and 
playmates can best win playmates. The young 
people of our churches, with their splendid energy 
and talents, are going to do something. They must 
do something. It is impossible for them to be idle. 
They will be delighted to do spiritual things if 
properly led and taught. It has been the inspiration 
of the writer’s soul to organize, train, and watch 
young people go out and win their friends, chums, 
and playmates to Christ. The young people will love 
and be loyal to the pastor or evangelist who will 
take an interest in them, organize them, train them, 
and give them a definite task to do. The best way 
in the world to keep our young people spiritual and 
close to the side of Christ is to teach and enlist 
them in the greatest task of all, namely, soul-win- 
ning. The amusement problem will solve itself if 
we will just keep our young people busy in the 
Master’s service. 

8. A personal workers’ class should be BH 
and taught at least once a year. Jesus taught his 
disciples before He sent them out to win others and 
we should do likewise. Many times we hurt the 
souls we might have helped to save by sending out 
an untrained worker. Ignorant and untrained 
workers often do more harm than good. The most 
important things to know are Christ, His spirit, His 


METHODS OF EVANGELISM 239 


message, His tact, and His method of approach. 
The true soul-winner must be educated in the school 
of Christ. “That I may know Him” and His methods 
should be the consuming passion of the seeker of 
souls. 

9. Every Christian should be urged to have a 
prayer list. It isn’t enough to talk to the lost about 
their souls, we must talk to God about them. For 
no one can come to Christ “except the Father draw 
him.” We should know the lost by name and hold 
them by name before the Father. There is no joy 
like that of seeing lost loved ones, friends, and 
neighbors saved in answer to earnest prayer. The 
true lover of souls will indeed “pray without 
ceasing.” 

10. The perennial revival should be, and will be, 
the ideal and goal of every church that really loves 
lost souls. ‘And the Lord added to them dazly those 
who were being saved,” (Acts 2:47). God is the 
same God still, and Christ is the same. He is the 
“same yesterday, today, and forever.” The trouble 
is the churches are not the same. If the churches 
would pray now like the church at Pentecost and the 
preachers would preach with the power and earnest- 
ness of Simon Peter, the Holy Spirit would come 
even now and crown all of our efforts with a con- 
tinual Pentecost. The lost would cry “what shall 
we do?” and daily conversions would be the rule 
rather than the exception. 


240 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


WHY SO MANY FAIL. 7 

“Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus 
said unto them because of your unbeltef”—“Howbeit 
this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting,” 
(Matt. 17:19-21; Mark 9:28, 29). 

It is heart-rending to see churches fail, mem- 
bers fail, deacons fail, and even preachers in the 
pulpit. Why should any child of God fail, in making 
a life or in winning the lost, when he has all the 
power and resources of God at his command? 

1. Lattle faith is the cause of most failures in 
Christian work. “O ye, of little faith,” is the wail 
of the Master even to this hour. We are told that 
He could do no mighty work in a certain place 
“because of their unbelief.’”’ Lack of faith hindered 
Him then and the same thing is hindering Him now. 
To win, the worker must have faith in God, in 
Christ, in the Holy Spirit who convicts men of sin, 
and in the gospel as the “power of God unto salva- 
tion to every one that believeth.” 

2. Some fail because they are not willing to 
work. Jesus said, “My Father worketh until now, 
and I work.” Paul said, “I am willing to spend and 
be spent for your souls.” Who can succeed without 
work? No man can succeed in the kingdom of God 
without work, and hard work at that. “No man, 
having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, 
is fit for the kingdom of God,” (Luke 9:62). 

3. Some preachers fail because they regard their 
work as a profession rather than a calling from God. 
The ministry is the “high calling of God in Christ 


METHODS OF EVANGELISM 241 


Jesus.’ It is not a profession, it is a calling and a 
passion. The preacher is God’s prophet. He is to 
speak to men for God. It should be the passion of 
the preacher to “lay hold upon that for which he 
was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.” Not to do this 
is to fail miserably in the greatest work ever com- 
mitted to human hands. It was the constant fear 
of the Apostle Paul that his ministry might be dis- 
approved of God. So he says in words that every 
preacher should heed: “I therefore so run, not as 
uncertainly; so fight I, not as one beateth the air; 
but I buffet my body, and bring it unto subjection; 
lest that by any means, after having preached to 
others, I myself should be a castaway (disap- 
proved),” (Rom. 9:26, 27). Paul took every possi- 
ble precaution against failure. It was this determi- 
nation not to fail that made him, who counted him- 
self least, the greatest of all the apostles. He could 
truthfully say, as he approached the end of the way, 
“T have fought the good fight, I have finished the 
course, I have kept the faith,” (2 Tim. 4:7). 

4, Ofttimes good men fail because they do not 
study. There was a time when the preacher could 
get by without study, but that time has passed. The 
writer has known preachers who said that study, 
especially the study of Greek and Hebrew in the 
Seminary, hurt their spirituality. If studying God’s 
great Book in the original tongues hurts a man’s 
spirituality he has the wrong kind of spirituality. 
He needs the kind of spirituality of that greatest 
preacher of the Chritstian centuries who said, 


242 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


“Study to present thyself approved unto God, a 
workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly 
dividing the word of truth,” (2 Tim. 2:15). To 
preach the gospel, one must know it, believe it, and 
love it. Paul was a student of many books and 
longed for the books and parchments left behind, 
(2 Tim. 4:18). He was a student of the world and 
was without question the brainiest man of his time. 
Even Festus accused him of being a man of “much 
learning,” (Acts 26:24). The broader and deeper 
the preacher’s culture the better if he will but con- 
secrate it to the service of God. The wise and use- 
ful preacher will have regular hours and methods 
of study. He will be a life-long student. He will 
study daily his Bible, men and things. He will be 
open minded and welcome truth from every source, 
but will be careful to test all truth by Him who is 
the truth. 

5. Many preachers are failing today because 
they do not believe that their Bible is the word of 
God. The preacher who does not believe that his 
Bible is the inspired word of God has no message 
to preach to a lost world. To be successful, the 
preacher must believe that the gospel message found 
in the Bible is the “power of God unto salvation to 
every one that believeth.” He will also believe that, 
‘“‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is 
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
for instruction in righteousness; That the man of 
God may be made ready, thoroughly equipped for 
every good work,” (2 Tim. 3:17). “For the proph- 


METHODS OF EVANGELISM 243 


ecy came not in old time by the will of man; but 
holy men spake from God, being moved by the Holy 
Spirit,” (2 Peter 1:21), (also 2 Sam. 23:2; Acts 1: 
16; 3:21; John 10:35; Luke 16:29-31; Ps. 119:111; 
Rom. 3:1, 2). 

The preachers who have moved this world for 
God have believed that the Bible is the word of God 
and have gone forth with a positive note in their 
preaching. This lost world will not be moved by 
the preachers who doubt, but by the preachers who 
have been with Jesus and are sure that they have 
a message from God. The preacher who goes forth 
with the ““‘Thus saith the Lord,” is the preacher who 
will see sinners saved, lives made over, homes made 
happy, and new born souls going their way rejoicing. 

6. Some fail because they are not considerate of 
little things. Carelessness about personal appear- 
ance, grammatical errors, faulty diction, awkward 
gestures, the lack of poise, monotone, insufficient 
sermon preparation, over eating, lack of proper exer- 
cise, insufficient sleep, improper ventilation, caire- 
lessness in regard to the order of service, half- 
hearted and stereotyped praying, prolonging the 
service unduly, speaking to entertain instead of 
preaching with a passion to win, and scores of other 
things which are too often ignored or regarded as 
insignificant, but which detract from one’s useful- 
ness and in many instances lead to complete failure. 
The preacher with an ambition to win cannot afford 
to overlook the little things or despise the “day of 
small things.” 


244 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


7. There are others who fail because they preach 
to please men instead of preaching to please God. 
The early preachers met with the same temptation: 
“And they called them, and commanded them not to 
speak at all, nor teach, in the name of Jesus. But 
Peter and John answered and said unto them: 
Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken 
unto you more than unto God, judge ye: For we 
cannot but speak the things which we have seen and 
heard,” (Acts 4:18-20). “Then Peter and the 
other apostles answered and said, We must obey God 
rather than men,” (Acts 5:29). There is not but 
one course for the true and successful preacher to 
follow. He must preach to please God, and “shun 
not to declare the whole counsel of God.” 

8. Some fail because they do not pray enough. 
James says, “We have not because we ask not.” 
The preacher who neglects to talk to God will fail 
to talk effectively to men. We are taught by Jesus 
to ‘watch and pray,” and by Paul to “pray without 
ceasing.” Jesus, Paul, Augustine, Savonarola, John 
Knox, Wesley, Whitefield, Finney, Moody, Spurgeon, 
and all the great soul-winners who have moved this 
world for God have sought the quiet place. They 
were mighty in prayer. The preacher who would 
win souls must live the prayer life. The road that 
leads to success in soul-winning is the road that 
goes through Gethsemane. | 

9. Many fail because they are not willing to be 
led by the Holy Spirit. The soul-winner must be 
spirit filled and spirit led. Other Christians may 


METHODS OF EVANGELISM 245 


be led by the Spirit, but the soul-winner must be. 
The Holy Spirit is always ready to “lead you into 
all truth and take the things of Christ and make 
them yours,’ but you must be willing to submit to 
His leadership. Success in evangelism is unthink- 
able and impossible without the aid and direction 
of the Holy Spirit. ‘‘Not by might, nor by power, 
but my Spirit, saith the Lord,’ (Zech. 4:6). 

10. Some fail because they have lost or have 
never had the evangelistic note. The evangelistic 
note is the compassionate note, the wooing note, the 
winning note. The continual sounding of this note 
makes an evangelistic life, an evangelistic preacher, 
and an evangelistic church. Neglect to sound this 
note and the result is stagnation and death. Woe 
to the preacher, the Christian, or the church failing 
to sound the evangelistic note. Failure is near at 
hand, even at the door. Methods, machinery, money, 
fine buildings, culture, and even numbers, will be 
of no avail without the evangelistic note. All must 
come to naught. What shall it profit to have all of 
the above and then fail to win the soul? The chief 
business of the preacher, the Christian, and the 
church is to win souls. Nothing that can be done 
will compensate for carelessness here. The church 
that is right on the soul-winning question is usually 
right on every other question. The soul-winning 
church is aggressive, liberal in giving, teachable, 
free from gossip, spiritual, emphasizes the prayer 
life, has a vision of a lost world, and is always 
obedient to the commands of Him who said, ‘Follow 


246 EVANGELISM IN ACTION 


thou me.” The evangelistic note saves the preacher 
the church, and the lost world. It is the supreme 
note to be sounded, and when sounded aright the 
whole Christian instrument will respond with beau- 
tiful harmony. “Do the work of an evangelist,” is 
the one message that the preacher and the church 
should hear and heed in this great hour of need and 
opportunity. The one and only antidote for the sins 
and ills of this world is an evangelism based upon 
the blood of the Son of God. An evangelism that 
knows no way of salvation except through Jesus 
Christ and Him crucified. “For there is none 
other name under heaven given among men, where- 
by we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). 





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